Sports
Real Madrid win record-extending 5th Club World Cup title with 5-3 win over Al Hilal
Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde each scored twice as Real Madrid won the FIFA Club World Cup for a record-extending fifth time after a 5-3 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in Saturday’s final in Rabat, Morocco.European Champions League winners Madrid were heavy favourites against their counterparts from Asia and duly raced into a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes with two goals in five minutes from Vinicius and Valverde.
But Al Hilal, the first team from Saudi Arabia to make the final, made the game a contest when pulling a goal back courtesy of Moussa Marega.Madrid raced clear once again with two more quick-fire goals early in the second half through the fit-again Karim Benzema and a second for Uruguayan midfielder Valverde to seemingly make the result safe with still just over 30 minutes remaining.
Instead, Madrid boss Ancelotti is unlikely to be too impressed by his side allowing Al Hilal a route back into the game once more through a brace from former Atletico Madrid forward Luciano Vietto, either side of a second from Vinicius.
Al Hilal could have ensured real late drama if not for a bad miss from Marega, but Madrid had enough to see out an ultimately deserved win in a game that set the record for the most combined goals in a Club World Cup final.The Spanish giants have now won all five finals they have played in the competition, having previously won three titles in four years between 2014 and 2018. The next most successful team in the FIFA event, which began in 2000 and has been held annually since 2005, are Barcelona with three victories.
European teams have now won the trophy in the past 10 Club World Cups.
“I think we’re improving, there were some mistakes at the back but a lot of quality up front,” Ancelotti said. “The players who were injured are coming back, Karim, [Eder] Militao, [Thibaut] Courtois, and this trophy gives us a boost to prepare this end of the season, and we still have a lot of confidence.
“It’s been a good tournament for us, the improvement we’ve seen in recent games, the rest of the season we’re excited to fight until the end in every minute, every game, every competition.”
– Ancelotti hails Valverde, Vinicius after Club World Cup triumph
Benzema was a mild surprise in Madrid’s starting lineup a day after Carlo Ancelotti said it was touch-and-go if he could play at all. The Ballon d’Or holder missed Madrid’s last two games, including the 4-1 semifinal win against Egyptian club Al Ahly on Wednesday.
The France striker cued the opener after he exchanged passes with Valverde and played Vinicius clear to beat goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf, who got a leg to the shot but not enough to keep it from landing in his net.
Valverde smashed a poor clearance between the legs of a defender, who deflected it slightly before it whizzed past Al-Mayouf, to double the advantage in the 18th.
But after struggling in the opening period to even connect three passes, Al Hilal found their stride after Marega caught Madrid’s backline trying to spring an offside trap in the 26th. The former Porto striker streaked away unbothered, sized up Andriy Lunin and fired past Madrid’s backup goalkeeper, who started for the injured Thibaut Courtois.
The goal settled Al Hilal and Madrid were stymied until Vinicius made an exquisite pass to serve up a goal by Benzema.
Vinicius used the outside edge of his right boot to bend a cross around a defender and meet Benzema’s darting move. Benzema did the rest by using one touch to turn it into the top of the net in the 54th.Valverde added his second in the 58th.
Vietto scored on either side of Vinicius’ second goal, netting in the 63rd and 79th as Madrid’s defence failed to track the Argentine in the box.A late miss by Marega denied Al Hilal a chance to go for a last-gasp equalizer. (ESPN)
A Sri Lankan innings that never really got going eventually parked itself at middling total of 219, as they were bowled out in 49.3 overs in the second ODI in Colombo. It’s a total England will fancy themselves to chase down as they look to level this three-match series.
Sri Lanka’s innings was headlined by Charith Asalanka’s 45 off 64 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 40 off 59, but at strike rates of 67.79 and 70.31 it tells you all you need to know about how well England kept a lid on the innings.
For the visitors the wickets were spread out, with Adil Rashid, Jamie Overton and Joe Root picking up two apiece, the latter with the final two balls of the innings. There were also wickets for Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed and the returning Will Jacks.
And much like in the first ODI, England’s varied attack – no less than eight options were used across the innings – sought to give little away. “Keeping the stumps in play,” was Harry Brook’s refrain, speaking after losing the toss, and on an uber-dry surface with boundaries square and behind mostly protected, the onus was on the Lankan batters to use their feet in order to access the boundaries at extra cover and deep midwicket.
That sort of strokeplay however proved detrimental to the Lankan cause with four of their top five falling in their attempts to access the boundaries in front of square. Kamil Mishara sought to bring some impetus to the innings after a miserly early burst from the England seamers, but his attempted lashing cover drive could not clear Ben Duckett in the circle, who held on at the second attempt.
Pathum Nissanka, who had patiently waded through the opening powerplay when the scoring rate sat below four an over, then sought to capitalise on his added time in the middle, but only managed to loft an inside-out drive to long-off.
Later on in the innings Dhananjaya whacked one low to Root at midwicket, before the set Asalanka found deep midwicket with a slog sweep.
And arguably Sri Lanka’s best batter at accessing those regions, Kusal Mendis, ran himself out for a ground-out 26, when he cut one straight to point and absentmindedly set off for the single. The throw from the fit-again Jacks was pinpoint and found Mendis easily short as he sought in vain to fling himself back to safety.
There were promising stands between, notably a 42-run effort between Nissanka and Mendis and 66 between Dhananjaya and Asalanka, but none of the batters involved were able to push on and up the rate of scoring over any concerted period of time.
Pavan Rathnayake’s 29 off 34 had also shown promise, but he fell foul looking to clear the straight boundary as he sliced one to long-off, and in the process silenced an energetic Khettarama crowd.
The frustrating nature of Sri Lanka’s innings was illustrated by the fact that five batters scored at least 25 and faced at least 30 deliveries, but the highest score remained Asalanka’s 45.
England, to their credit, stuck to and executed their plans well. The use of eight bowlers – six of them spinners – meant Sri Lanka’s batters were ever really able to get a measure of any one bowler. And while the lengths were consistent, the pace of the deliveries was varied. It meant that even when a set batter such as Nissanka sought to take on the attack, Rashid was able to successfully deceive him in the flight.
Dunith Wellalage once more looked enterprising during a late cameo, but despite finding two boundaries in his brief stay, his 20 off 19 was far less damaging to England’s cause than had been in the first ODI.
England bowled 40.3 overs of spin across their innings, breaking their previous record of 36. That came in Sharjah in 1984-85, when Norman Gifford captained England at the age of 44, and took four wickets. The team wore black armbands during the first ODI after his death last week.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 219 in 49.3 overs (Charith Asalanka 45, Dhananjaya De Silva 40; Joe Root 2-12, Jamie Overton 2-21, Adil Rashid 2-34) vs England
(Cricinfo)
(Cricbuzz)
Sri Lanka elected to bat first in the second ODI against England at the R Premadasa International Stadium
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
England: Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, 4Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
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