Al Ahly have bagged the bronze medal in the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup after beating Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal 4-0 on Saturday.
The Red Devils had to beat Monterrey to qualify for the semi-finals, where they lost to Brazilians champions Palmeiras despite a spirited performance.
Saudi Arabia club Al Hilal was the obstacle between them and a place on the podium as they aimed to grab the bronze medal for the third time in history after the 2006 and 2020 versions.
Al Ahly stormed ahead in only the eighth minute as Yasser Ibrahim found the back of the Hilal net with a powerful header from Ali Maaloul’s free kick.
Al Hilal then began to settle on the ball and started to put together some lovely passing exchanges before they were reduced to ten men on the 14th minute when Matheus Pereira received marching orders for stamping on the shin of Amr El-Sulaya in a reckless challenge.
Three minutes later the Saudi Arabian side were down by two goals. Ibrahim headed his second from close range from a rebound after the goalkeeper parried a powerful drive from Mohamed Hani.
A second red card was shown to Al Hilal’s midfielder Mohammed Kanoo who was sent off for kicking out at Yasser Ibrahim in an off-the-ball incident.
The Saudis almost reduced the deficit on the 37th minute as Moussa Marega forced a parried save out of Ali Lofti but it would be Abdel-Kader who grabbed the game’s next goal as the winger made it 3-0 after 40 minutes of play.
Al Ahly never looked under pressure through the first half, and took their three-goal lead into the break.
Three minutes after the interval, Ali Maaloul came close to bagging their third, before wasted a great chance after good work from Salman Al-Faraj.
Al Ahly found their third goal in the 64th minute as Amr El-Sulaya sent a powerful swerving shot that Mohammed Al-Owais failed to deal with.
The tempo decreased after the third goal as Red Devils seemed to be protecting their lead. The Saudi Arabians tried to push forward but their efforts did not produce any results as the match ended 4-0.
Here is how they lined up:
Ahly: Ali Lotfi, Mohamed Hani, Mohamed Abdel-Moneim, Yasser Ibrahim, Ali Maaloul, Hamdi Fathi, Aliou Dieng, Amr El-Sulaya, Taher Mohamed Taher, Ahmed Abdel-Kader, Mohamed Sherif
Al Hilal: Mohammed Al-Owais, Saud Abdulhamid, Hyun-soo Jang, Muteb Al-Mufarrij, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Gustavo Cuellar, Mohamed Kanno, Andre Carrillo, Matheus Pereira, Salem Al-Dawsari, Moussa Marega
