MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid tenure got off to a disappointing start as his club was held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
In his first game as coach of 15-time European champion, Alonso was denied victory when Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time penalty was saved by Al Hilal goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
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Defeat would have been hard on Al Hilal under new coach Simone Inzaghi. Saudi Arabia’s most successful team had its own chances to win at Hard Rock Stadium before a VAR call saw Madrid awarded the late spot kick.
Gonzalo Garcia scored for Madrid in the 34th minute, but Al Hilal equalized from the penalty spot seven minutes later when Ruben Neves stepped up and sent keeper Thibaut Courtois the wrong way.
Key moment
Madrid was handed a chance at victory when VAR spotted a foul by Mohammed Alqahtani on Fran Garcia in the box.
Valverde stepped up to take the penalty two minutes into added time, but his low effort into the bottom corner was saved by Bounou, sparking wild celebrations from his teammates.
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Takeaways
While it was an underwhelming start for Alonso, Inzaghi’s Al Hilal made an early statement of its potential by holding its own against the Spanish power.
It might have been even better. Leonardo had three chances in front of goal and failed to hit the target. Had star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic been fit and available, Al Hilal could have been celebrating a win.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
