Can Man City Recover After Shocking Club World Cup Exit?

Manchester City threw away a two-goal lead in gutwrenching style after Saudi Arabian giants Al-Hilal delivered a stunning 4-3 extra-time finish in the Club World Cup at Orlando Camping World Stadium. The outrageous firing has placed Pep Guardiola’s squad in a position in which there are questions on whether they would ever recover from a season which was disappointing season.

The setback of the evening was worsened by a new injury to midfielder Rodri, who was substituted in extra time after reportedly saying that he felt pain. The Spanish international was just getting back into action after a long knee injury lay off, and this was the only his fifth appearance since he was back to recovering.

Guardiola revealed the injury after the game, saying that Rodri had complained of his physical fitness during that game. The early retirement of the midfielder in the 100th minute is another point of worry for the medical department of the City in regard to the next season.

The high volume of chances created in the match did little good to Manchester City as they failed to score on several chances, and this cost them against their stubborn Saudi rivals. The Premiership club had a lot of clear-cut chances in the game, yet they wasted their chances and could not exploit their dominance.

Some of the key players, such as Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Josko Gvardiol, wasted good scoring chances when they could easily score to eliminate the game against Al-Hilal. Later on, Guardiola had to admit that clinical edge played a role in the fate of his team at the Club World Cup.

The game started well in favor of City, as it happened after nine minutes when Bernardo Silva scored and City went to the lead. But Al-Hilal reacted phenomenally well when it scored two goals in seven minutes in the second half by Marcus Leonardo and Malcom, to turn the tables on Tiolas.

The equalizer by Haaland after two minutes of Al-Hilal scoring the first goal drove the match to extra time, and the Camping World Stadium prepared the showdown. The extra half an hour witnessed the goals being traded between the two teams as Al-Hilal was given the lead once more by the player Klidou Koulibaly, and it was followed by the goal equalizing game of Phil Foden.

It was in the 112th minute that Leonardo scored his second goal of the game, which sent the Saudi team to the next round and rebuked the former champions of the Premier League to go home.

The manager of Al-Hilal Simone Inzaghi spoke highly of the historic feat by his team, stating that what they did should be compared to climbing Mount Everest without oxygen because of the fame and quality of Manchester City.