‘Al Hilal wanted to show talent’ – Koulibaly on Man City upset

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Senegal international and Al Hilal centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly expressed his and his teammates’ joy after knocking Manchester City out of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 4-3 Round of 16 victory at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Tuesday.

Bernardo Silva gave City an early advantage, and only an excellent save from Yassine Bounou denied Savinho from making it 2-0. At the start of the second half, quick-fire goals from Marcos Leonardo and Malcom catapulted Al Hilal into the lead, before Erling Haaland levelled matters from a corner.

Al Hilal went ahead again at the start of extra time when Koulibaly headed home from a corner, but substitute Phil Foden restored parity. With penalties looking likely, Marcos Leonardo pounced on Ederson’s spilt save to send Al Hilal into the quarter-finals.

“We knew that it was one of the most difficult games against one of the best teams in the world. We wanted to show ideas, our talent, and I think that we played a very good game. Defensively, we were very strong, and offensively, we used all the opportunities that came our way,” Koulibaly told reporters after the game.

“We can be happy tonight because it was a really tough game against Man City. But we wanted to show that Al Hilal have the talent and quality to be here, and we showed it, and tonight we can really be very happy.”

On scoring the decisive goal against Pep Guardiola’s Man City, he said: “It was amazing to score again, and against Man City in the World Club Cup, so it is an amazing feeling. But after we know we are not done yet, we still have to keep on believing. We showed a lot of mentality, and we can be happy because we stuck to our principles.”

Simone Inzaghi’s side will return to Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Friday to fight Fluminense FC for a semi-final spot.