(Football news) Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal stunned 10-man Flamengo to reach the Club World Cup final with a well deserved 3-2 victory on Tuesday thanks to two spot kicks from Salem Al Dawsari and a close-range strike goal from Luciano Vietto. The Saudi Arabia international, who scored the famous goal against Argentina Al Dawsari opened the scoring from the spot after three minutes and while Pedro levelled for the Brazilian champions, their hopes were hit when Gerson conceded a penalty and was sent off in the first-half stoppage time. That allowed Al Dawsari to grab his second goal of the match before Vietto added a third after the break, ensuring Pedro’s second of the match was just a consolation.
Al Hilal became the first Saudi side to reach the Club World Cup final and will face the winners of Real Madrid’s semi final against Al Ahly on Wednesday in Rabat. Flamengo’s Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira surprised everyone when he left former Atletico Madrid fullback Filipe Luis on the bench and also left out Uruguay’s Guillermo Varela, opting for a younger and more attack-oriented fullback partnership. It was Varela’s replacement Matheuzinho, who changed the game in the third minute, when he challenged Vietto inside the box and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.
Al-Dawsari calmly slotted the penalty home as Flamengo tried to respond by going on the attack and wasted some golden opportunities. In the 15th minute Gerson was in a great position to score inside the area but he tried to win a penalty instead of shooting.The referee did not fall for it and showed a yellow card for simulation. The talented Brazilian Pedro equalised four minutes later as he fired home with a first-time strike from close-range from a pinpoint Matheuzinho assist. Flamengo were desperate to avoid becoming only the fourth Brazilian side to lose a Club World Cup semifinal and somehow lost their cool and were shown four yellow cards in the first half.
Gerson’s second proved to be the turning point of the match as Flamengo were reduced to 10 men.It came after a VAR check as the referee spotted on the pitch-side monitor that the former Marseille midfielder had stamped on Vietto’s ankle inside the penalty box. Al-Dawsari stepped again and slotted his spot-kick to the left of the keeper. Flamengo were reduced to 10 men for the entire second half as Al Hilal controlled the tempo and eventually went on to score the third goal when this time Al Dawsari put a ball on a plate for the Argentinian Vietto to score. Pedro added a consolation goal as Flamengo became only the sixth Copa Libertadores champions not to advance to the final.
“Flamengo was surprised by our quality and by how prepared we were, mentally and strategically,” Al Hilal coach Ramon Diaz told a news conference. “Flamengo didn’t expect that we would change our scheme from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-1-1, with Luciano Vietto as an attacking midfielder. Vietto ghosted behind their holding midfielders who we identified were not good on challenges. And he was brilliant, suffering both penalties and scoring a great goal for us.”
“We were ready to play Al Hilal but were not ready for a refereeing that was not up to the standards of the competition,” he said.”There was a very big lack of criteria, it was provocative refereeing and if it weren’t for the personality of our players, I’m convinced that we would end the game with more red cards.”
“He was permissive with one stop after the other,” Pereira said. “Al Hilal’s only goal attempts in the first-half were the penalties. Therefore, if the match ended 11 against 11, we were the better side. We took the actions but were unable to translate it into goals. In the second half, with one less, it wasn’t apathy, it’s difficult to play down one man.”
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