Al-Hilal will play Manchester City in the last 16 games of the club’s World Cup after defeating Mexican side Pachuca 2-0 on the final day.
Saudi Arabia surpassed Salzburg’s RB Salzburg and lag Real Madrid behind in Real Madrid after the Spanish Giants beat the Austrian 3-0 in Philadelphia.
This means that goals from Salem Al Dawsari and Marcos Leonardo are enough to get al-hilal a seat in the knockout stage.
Pachuca has been eliminated after losing the first two games, but is very hot, but is demarcated by Kalidou Kuolibaly, the dangerous man Salomon Rondon and limits the Mexicans to long-distance shooting and half-time games.
They advanced to 16 rounds when Al Hilal beat Pachuca 2-0! pic.twitter.com/4qwlua4kda
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Al-Hilal sometimes gets a bit casual, Pachuca sometimes feels a bit casual as they protect the final quarter’s lead more deeply but keep the win, which gives them five points, giving them two-quarters of Salzburg.
“It’s been a tough game, but I think we did a great game,” said midfielder Ruben Neves.
“We scored first, we had good control, we had good defense. A clean sheet and a win, we’ve done it. That’s the most important thing.”
Nasser Al-Dawsari reached out to his captain Salem, who touched the ball with his right foot and lifted the goalkeeper with a second.
Leonardo crossed the crossbar later in the first half and should have scored in the 83rd minute when Sublime al-Hilal scored the match left him with only goalkeeper Sebastian Jurado.
His chip was too weak, however, and Jurado got enough touch to get defender Eduardo Bauermann to clear it.
Pachuca substitute Illian Hernandez flashed a powerful header warning in the 84th minute, but Leonardo settled any Al-Hilal nerves after five minutes of stopping.
🚨 It’s time to eliminate!
The road to the Metropolitan Building is set up🏟️
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Neves found his enough space in the box, and this time the Brazilian surrounded the goalkeeper and stuffed the ball into an empty net.
Manchester City may offer a harsh test than Pachuca, and Neves said Al-Hilal needs to play in the same way as last week’s 1-1 draw.
“For me, we are playing against one of the three biggest teams in the world. I know them very well,” the Portuguese international said.
“Of course, we’ll do our best, we’ll prepare the game like these three games, and we’ll see what’s going on.”
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