Mohammed Syed Ahmed (Abu Dhabi)
Chelsea qualified to face the Brazilian Palmeiras in the final of the Club World Cup next Saturday, after defeating Al Hilal Saudi Arabia with a clean goal, in the semi-finals at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, while the latter will meet Al-Ahly of Egypt in the match to determine the third place in a purely Arab confrontation.
The match, whose only goal came through Romelu Lukaku in the 32nd minute, was attended by 19,175 spectators.
Chelsea imposed a terrible siege on Al Hilal since the whistle at the start of the match, putting Al Hilal’s defense and the well-known goalkeeper under pressure, amid intense attempts by the European champion, through Thiago Silva, Hakim Ziyech and Romelu Lukaku, especially the latter who shot on more than one occasion, but he was unable to score, and wasted A dangerous opportunity from Cesar’s cross when he hit it with the heel to cross the goal, and he returned and scored the Chelsea goal, taking advantage of Yasser Al-Shahrani’s error in removing the ball inside the penalty area, so that Lukaku found it on a plate of gold and scored the goal.
For most of the half, Al Hilal was a defender at home, amid divergent attempts through counter-attacks, which always did not end before they posed a real danger to Chelsea’s goal, the last of which was Salem Al-Dosari before the end of the half.
The post prevented a dangerous attempt by Kai Havertz 3 minutes after the beginning of the second half, and Muhammad Kno responded with a shot that crossed the crossbar slightly in the most dangerous opportunity for Al Hilal in the meeting, and Abdullah Al Mayouf, Al Hilal goalkeeper, continued his brilliance and farthed a strong shot for Ziash at the 60th minute, and Moussa Mariga missed an opportunity to equalise. Completely alone with Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa, then Muhammad Kno shone with a shell that the goalkeeper turned to the corner, to continue the strong desire for a tie and with a performance completely different from what the “leader” appeared in the first half, and then Mateos Pereira’s shot passed next to the right post of Chelsea’s goal, amid Dawi’s encouragement In the stands for the Saudi team, which forced the “Blues” to retreat to maintain its progress, and Al Hilal’s search for a goal continued with repeated attacks that were unsuccessful, and the meeting ended with the victory of the European champion and its qualification to the final for the second time in its history after the 2012 edition.