After shocking a star-studded Al Ittihad team in Jeddah, Al Ahly will play Fluminense for a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup final.
With a convincing win over the prospects from the host country, the Egyptian giants advanced to a matchup with Fluminense in the round of sixteen.
In this intense second-round match amongst all Arab teams, the African champions displayed composure and clinical play.
Read Also:FIFACWC: Benzema, Kante Send Al-Ittihad To Second Round
Mohamed Elshenawy solidified his legendary reputation by tipping a penalty taken by Karim Benzema.
Midway through the first half, Hassan Kadesh handled a long ball over the top by mistake, and a penalty was given.
This resulted in the first goal. As Marcelo Grohe dived to his left, Abdullah Almayouf, playing at Ali Maaloul’s cost, hammered the ball down the middle of the goal.
Shortly before halftime, Mohamed Abdelmoneim was given a handball penalty, which gave Ittihad their own spot-kick.
But Elshenawy launched himself southeast to thwart Benzema, the leading guy among the local contenders.
Igor Coronado pulled off an amazing deception just after the half had begun, slipping Faisal Alghamdi in on goal.
Elshenawy managed to deflect the latter’s shot onto the post, giving him the opportunity to seize the loose ball.
The Ahly advantage was then increased shortly before the hour by Hussein Elshahat’s wonderful curler.
It already seemed difficult that Al Ittihad would make a comeback, and three minutes later Emam Ashour’s goal, the culmination of a brilliant counterattack, made the unlikely seem almost unattainable.
This gave the Egyptians even more of a lead.
Anthony Modeste’s last-minute red card for elbowing Ahmed Hegazy dealt Ahly one more blow, but shortly after, Karim Benzema scored his sixth goal of the Club World Cup, a consolation goal in the 92nd minute.
However, the African champions prevailed with ease, and now that they have won the praise of their supporters, they can confidently advance to their matchup with the South American monarchs on Monday.