{"id":12261,"date":"2025-07-01T09:05:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T09:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12261"},"modified":"2025-07-01T09:05:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T09:05:28","slug":"manchester-city-knocked-out-of-fifa-club-world-cup-by-al-hilal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12261","title":{"rendered":"Manchester City knocked out of FIFA Club World Cup by Al-Hilal"},"content":{"rendered":"
Manchester City were eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup in a sensational 3\u20134\u00a0defeat to Saudi side Al-Hilal, following an extra-time thriller.<\/p>\n

The Premier League giants took the lead early and dominated the opening half but were undone by a resilient Al-Hilal performance and defensive frailties that saw them concede four goals \u2014 more than in their entire group stage campaign.<\/p>\n

Bernardo Silva opened the scoring in the 9th minute, finishing from close range after a defensive mix-up, though replays showed a possible handball by Rayan A\u00eft-Nouri in the build-up, sparking protests from the Saudi side.<\/p>\n

BERNARDO SILVA GOALLLL REIJNDERS WITH A BEAUTIFUL PASS TO AIT-NOURI TOO WOWWWWWpic.twitter.com\/BK2hQXDyUf
\n\u2014 17 (@DxBruyneSZN) July 1, 2025<\/p>\n

City continued to threaten, with goalkeeper Bono making several crucial saves to deny Savinho, Ilkay G\u00fcndogan, and Josko Gvardiol before half-time.<\/p>\n

But despite their dominance, the English side failed to extend their lead.<\/p>\n

Just 44 seconds after the restart, Al-Hilal struck back. Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo headed in the equaliser, and moments later, Malcom gave them a shock 2\u20131 lead after racing clear to slot home coolly in the 52nd minute.<\/p>\n

Cancelo sent Malcom on a run \ud83d\udca8<\/p>\n

(via @DAZNFootball)pic.twitter.com\/aMW8Cmypik
\n\u2014 B\/R Football (@brfootball) July 1, 2025<\/p>\n

City responded swiftly, with Erling Haaland levelling from a corner just three minutes later. Manuel Akanji then hit the post and Haaland\u2019s follow-up was heroically cleared off the line by Ali Lajami as City searched for a late winner.<\/p>\n

Kalidou Koulibaly appeared to have sealed it for Al-Hilal with a towering header in the 94th minute, only for Phil Foden to respond with a volley from a tight angle to make it 3\u20133.<\/p>\n

But in the 112th minute, Leonardo popped up again, converting at the back post to give Al-Hilal an extraordinary victory and send City out of the tournament.<\/p>\n

FUTEBOL, VOC\u00ca \u00c9 O MAIOR ESPORTE DE TODOS OS TEMPOS.<\/p>\n

Marcos Leonardo, no rebote! QUATRO A TR\u00caS PRO AL HILAL. pic.twitter.com\/3XGJ2SFhuk
\n\u2014 Sem Clubismo (@SemClubismo_FC) July 1, 2025<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper Bono, who helped Morocco reach the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, was instrumental with 10 saves \u2014 a performance that kept Al-Hilal in the game during intense City pressure.<\/p>\n

Leonardo, only 22, delivered the biggest performance of his young career, netting twice and proving decisive. Former City player Jo\u00e3o Cancelo also played a pivotal role, contributing to Al-Hilal\u2019s attacking moments.<\/p>\n

The defeat means an early return home for Pep Guardiola\u2019s side, who entered the tournament as favourites. Meanwhile, Al-Hilal remain in Orlando to face Brazil\u2019s Fluminense in Friday\u2019s quarter-final.<\/p>\n

The winner of that fixture will meet either Chelsea or Palmeiras in the semi-finals, set to be played in New York or New Jersey.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manchester City were eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup in a sensational 3\u20134\u00a0defeat to Saudi side Al-Hilal, following an extra-time thriller. The Premier League giants took the lead early and dominated the opening half but were undone by a resilient Al-Hilal performance and defensive frailties that saw them concede four goals \u2014 more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}