FiFA CLUB WORLD CUP:
Fluminense Earns Semi-final Ticket
By Yadnom Awu/ Asaba
Fluminense continued their winning streak at the FIFA Club World Cup championship in America by beating Saudi Arabian entrant, A-Hilal, by two goals to one .
The game was evenly balanced in the early minutes of the first half, but it was the Al- Hilal who had ball possession superiority as the game wore on.
In the 40th minute, talismanic number 8 , Martineli, netted the curtain raiser.
Four minutes later, a bump in by Samuel Xavier was initially ruled a penalty , but was reversed after a Video Assistant Referee(VAR) review.
The game ended on a lone goal score line for Fluminense.
On resumption, Marcus Leonardo scored off a header by Koulibaly to draw level.
That was in the 51st minute of play.
Both teams sustained even exchanges in the second stanza of play .
But it was Fluminense who regaine advantage when, in the 69th minute, substitute Hercules scored the winner and earned Fluminense the Semi- final ticket.
Stung by the goal,
Al-Hilal came back stronger, piling pressure on the back four of the Fluminense, earning many corner kicks that could not be utilized to restore equilibrium in the score line.
