Fluminense have progressed to the semifinals of the Club World Cup after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal on Friday.
The two teams struggled to create clear scoring opportunities, and it took until five minutes before the end of the first half for Fluminense to take the lead thanks to Martinelli.
Right before the break, Al Hilal thought they had a chance to draw level when the referee awarded them a penalty after Leonardo went down in the box. However, the VAR ruled there was no foul.
Al Hilal came back stronger in the second half and equalised in the 51st minute when defender Kalidou Koulibaly headed the ball down in the box, and Leonardo volleyed it in from close range.
But Fluminense weren’t done. Just 19 minutes later, Hercules scored the winning goal as his first shot was blocked, but he kept pushing and managed to slot the ball into the bottom corner, making it 2-1.
