Palmeiras tightened their grip on Group A at the FIFA Club World Cup with a clinical 2-0 victory over Egypt’s Al Ahly, capitalising on second-half errors in a contest disrupted by dramatic weather, VAR intervention, and a near hour-long lightning delay.

The Brazilian giants, coached by the experienced Abel Ferreira, now sit atop the group with four points and need only a draw against Inter Miami in their final match to secure a quarter-final spot. Al Ahly, by contrast, must defeat Porto on Tuesday and hope other results go their way to stay alive in the competition.

The match opened with promise for the Egyptians, who began brightly under a rumbling New Jersey sky. Trezeguet and Attiyat Allah whipped in dangerous crosses early on, while defender Yasser Ibrahim denied teenage sensation Estêvão with a crucial block after the Chelsea-bound winger weaved through the defence.

Palmeiras were largely conservative in the first half, absorbing pressure and launching quick counterattacks. Estêvão came close to scoring with a dazzling solo run, narrowly missing the target.

The first flashpoint arrived ten minutes before the break when Raphael Veiga, celebrating his birthday, was shown a straight red card by English referee Anthony Taylor for a high tackle on Zizo. However, a VAR review downgraded the punishment to a yellow, much to Al Ahly’s frustration.

Ferreira reshuffled his pack at the interval, bringing on José “Flaco” López and Mauricio—and the changes paid off almost immediately. Four minutes into the second half, a teasing free-kick from Aníbal Moreno was inadvertently glanced into his own net by Al Ahly striker Wissam Abou Ali, who had tracked back to defend.

The North African side barely had time to recover before they conceded again. A swift Palmeiras counterattack saw left-back Joaquín Piquerez break free and square for López, who made no mistake with a cool finish into the far corner to double the lead in the 59th minute.

Moments later, lightning strikes in the area forced officials to suspend the match for 55 minutes, offering Al Ahly an unexpected reprieve.

Manager Jose Riveiro introduced Ashraf Bencharki, Ahmed Ramadan and Afsha in a desperate bid to claw back into the game. Bencharki came closest to scoring, testing Weverton with a stinging drive and later heading wide when unmarked.

Palmeiras, chasing a ninth clean sheet in 12 matches, held firm with commanding displays from centre-backs Gustavo Gómez and Murilo. El Shenawy, Al Ahly’s captain, prevented a heavier defeat with a superb save from Moreno’s free-kick, while Paulinho squandered a late chance to make it 3-0.

With Palmeiras now two points ahead of both Porto and Inter Miami—who face off later tonight—the Brazilian champions are in pole position. Meanwhile, Al Ahly remain rooted at the bottom with just one point and no goals scored from two matches on American soil.

For the thousands of African fans who lit up Times Square in red earlier this week, the path is clear but steep: beat Porto and hope Palmeiras complete the job against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

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Real Who? Bounou puts on a clinic as Al Hilal holds the Spanish giants, Real Madrid.  Yassine Bounou was nothing short of sensational for Al Hilal as he pulled off a string of jaw-dropping saves to help his side earn a dramatic 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in their FIFA Club World Cup showdown.

He emerged as the standout performer for Al Hilal on a dramatic night at the FIFA Club World Cup, producing a string of superb saves to earn his side a 1-1 draw against Spanish giants Real Madrid.

The Moroccan international, widely known as “Bono,” was the difference-maker on a night when Madrid piled on the pressure. Time and again, he stood tall to deny clear-cut chances from the Spanish side, keeping Al Hilal in the fight.

But the real highlight came right at the death.

In the 90th minute, after a tense VAR review, Real Madrid were handed a penalty. Federico Valverde stepped up, confident as ever. But Bounou had other plans—first saving the initial strike and then blocking the rebound in stunning fashion. It was the kind of moment that instantly becomes Club World Cup folklore.

Back in April, Bounou had spoken to FIFA about his excitement ahead of the tournament and how much he was looking forward to facing Real Madrid again.

“I’ve faced a lot of great teams throughout my career, and I’m privileged that Real Madrid is one of them. It’s a great honour to do it again wearing the Al Hilal shirt,” he said.

Having played in Spain for years, Bounou is no stranger to Los Blancos.

“I have many friends in the team, and I’ve always met their fans on the streets of Spain. I’ve always had mutual respect for the club and its supporters,” he added.

Well, after tonight’s performance, the respect surely went both ways. What a night for Bounou. What a night for Al Hilal.

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Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao both scored twice as the young guns of Juventus made a statement in their Club World Cup opener with a dominant 5-0 win over Emirati club Al-Ain on Wednesday.

Kolo Muani grabbed both of his goals in the first half, Conceicao scored either side of the break while Turkey forward Kenan Yildiz also found the net as Juventus dazzled the crowd at Audi Field with some mesmeric football.

“I’m very happy to win the game, the team played a great game so we’re happy and now we’ll get ready for the next game,” said Kolo Muani.

“I finished last season well and we’ve started this good as well.”

The convincing victory sent Juventus top of Group G level on three points with England’s Manchester City, who beat Wydad Casablanca 2-0 earlier on Wednesday.

Twice Asian champions Al-Ain conceded two thirds of the pitch for much of the first half and Juventus midfielder Khephren Thuram ran the show from about 35 metres out with Conceicao and Yildiz buzzing around in front of him.

A neat exchange of passing in the 11th minute set Alberto Costa free on the edge of the box and the young Portuguese right back lofted over a cross which Kolo Muani met with a powerful header at the far post for the opening goal.

Costa’s fine work down the right flank 10 minutes later set up the second goal for Conceicao, who ghosted across the box before unleashing a shot which took a deflection and flew over the outstretched arms of Rui Patricio in the Al-Ain goal.

A further 10 minutes on and the lively Yildiz took the ball on the left before cutting inside, taking two touches and firing a shot into the net off the post.

Al-Ain had to push forward if they were going to get anything out of the game but they paid the price for their ambition in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

A through ball from Thuram found Kolo Muani peeling off the last defender and the French striker slotted the ball into net with the outside of his right foot to take his tally to five goals in his last six games for The Old Lady.

The Emirati side had a goal ruled out for offside at the start of the second half and skipper Kodjo Laba drew a fine save out of Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio in the 49th minute.

Conceicao, however, put the game well beyond them in the 58th minute when he skipped into the box from the right wing and beat Portuguese Patricio for the second time with a fine low strike.

Patricio finally showed the quality that earned him 108 Portugal caps to deny Kolo Muani a hat-trick in the 66th minute and Juventus substitute Douglas Luiz came close to further blowing out the scoreline in the last couple of minutes.

Juventus next play Morroco’s Wydad in Philadephia on Sunday, while Al-Ain, who lost to Real Madrid in the 2018 Club World Cup final, face City in Atlanta later the same day.

-Reuters

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