Football | Fluminense 2-1 Al Hilal

Fluminense will be the only non European team remaining in the competition

They edged a breathless encounter with Al Hilal to book their place in the Club World Cup semi-finals, where they will face Chelsea at MetLife Stadium

Author | Peter Grainger

The match burst into life just before half-time. Martinelli smartly cushioned Gabriel Fuentes’ cut-back into his stride and rifled an unstoppable shot into the top corner. 

Fabio then produced a fine save to deny Kalidou Koulibaly, before referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot after Marcos Leonardo went down in the area. A VAR review, however, showed no foul by Samuel Xavier and the decision was overturned.

Marcos Leonardo had his moment soon after the restart. Koulibaly’s header from a corner ricocheted off him, and with Fabio already committed the wrong way, the Brazilian reacted quickly to hook the ball into the net.

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Fluminense should have regained the lead moments later when German Cano pounced on a loose Renan Lodi back-pass and raced through on goal. His attempt to round Yassine Bounou was foiled by the Al Hilal goalkeeper’s outstretched arm.

But there was little Bounou could do to prevent the winner. Hercules showed composure to bring the ball under control before firing home a goal that will go down as one of the most significant in Fluminense’s 123-year history.

Best reaction

Liam C watched the match as a neutral and said: "I think Fluminense have a decent chance of winning the competition. It would be great to see a team from South America win the trophy as their fans have been a great asset."

Thiago Silva spoke with the media after the match, saying: "I’m very happy, very proud of my team. It’s not easy to play this competition and reach the semi-finals. I could not have imagined this moment, but I’m very happy for the team and myself and with the performance. We stayed together the whole time.”