Al Hilal defeats Manchester City, Pep Guardiola press conference after Erling Haaland substituted

Al Hilal’s Italian coach Simone Inzaghi hailed his “extraordinary” team after a stunning 4-3, extra-time win over Premier League giants Manchester City at the Club World Cup.

The match finished 2-2 at full-time, but at the end of an eventful extra-time, Marcos Leonardo grabbed the winner and pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far and one of the greatest wins in Middle Eastern football history.

The Saudi club advance to the quarter-finals where they will face Brazilian club Fluminense, ensuring a non-European team will reach the last four.

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“We knew had to do something extraordinary if we were to beat Manchester City and that is what the boys did tonight, the lads were simply wonderful,” said Inzaghi after the shock of the tournament in Orlando.

“We had to be extraordinary because well, Manchester City, we all know that team. So we had to climb Everest without oxygen to win the game and we made it.

“We were great. All the players were exceptional in everything, in the possession phase, non-possession phase,” added the former Inter Milan coach whose previous club were defeated by Fluminense just hours before the kick-off at Camping World Stadium.

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“It is only right in this moment, this evening, to enjoy this achievement up against the Manchester City of Guardiola. The heart that they put in tonight.....” he said.

City manager Pep Guardiola took off Erling Haaland and introduced Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush as the game went into extra-time.

But for all City’s depth, Al Hilal had a deep well of spirit to draw upon and just four minutes into the opening period Al Hilal regained the lead when Kalidou Koulibaly rose superbly to meet a Ruben Neves corner with a brilliantly angled header.

City responded with a goal of real quality when Rayan Cherki’s brilliantly floated ball towards the back post was poked home masterfully by Phil Foden, at full stretch and from the tightest of angles.

But incredibly Al Hilal responded again to restore their lead. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header was saved by Ederson, but Marcos Leonardo followed in to bundle the ball over the line.

As the celebrating Al Hilal fans poured out of the stadium, the Brazilian striker let his emotions pour out.

“I’ve had a difficult time in the last two months. My mother spent 70 days in the ICU,” he said.

Al Hilal's Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo celebrates with teammates. Picture: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP Source: AFP

“Today she’s fine, thank God. When I scored those two goals, I thought of her. She was able to watch the match.”

Inzaghi had only been in charge of the team for a few days before the opening game where his side drew with Real Madrid and said the credit for the performance belongs with the players.

“It is barely three weeks that we are together and you can see the level of application, they really put the effort in. As a coach clearly that is very satisfying. The lads delivered that performance, they have reached the quarter-finals,” he said.

City won all three of their group stage games and after a 5-2 win over Juventus in their last game before the knockout stage they were viewed as one of the favourites for the title.

City boss Pep Guardiola gave credit to Al Hilal but clearly hadn’t seen such an outcome on the horizon.

“It is a pity, we have been on an incredible journey together and so good place. The vibe was really good, I cannot thank Manchester City enough and especially the players for training and how they have been playing,” he said.

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“We would have loved to have continued, you can only be here once every four years, we had a feeling that the team is doing well but we go home and now it is time to rest and rest our minds for the new season,” he said.

The Spaniard praised the way Inzaghi’s team had hurt them on the counter-attack. “We were so open. When the crosses arrived, in the first action, they had the ability to pass the ball and attack and they have quick players. We created a lot and had a lot of chances against a team that defend so deep. They punished us on the transitions,” he said.

City skipper Bernardo Silva said his team had paid the price for being unable to deal with Al Hilal’s counter-attacking.

“We scored three and could’ve scored five, six. It was all about controlling when we lost the ball, controlling the transitions, don’t let them run, and they ran way too many times,” he said.

“With one, two passes there was always a feeling of danger coming from them. When we allow teams to run like this we always suffer a lot, and today was the case,” he said.

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