Sports

Palmeiras top Al-Ahly in Club World Cup semifinal

Sports Desk, Feb 8 (EFE).- Brazil’s Palmeiras defeated Egyptian powerhouse Al-Ahly 2-0 Tuesday to reach the final of the Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The contest in Abu Dhabi between the Copa Libertadores holders and the reigning African champions was a rematch of the third-place game in the 2020 edition of the competition, won by the side from Cairo.

Palmeiras started aggressively and created plenty of danger in the opposing end before taking the lead in the 38th minute, when Raphael Veiga scored with a brilliant assist from Dudu.

Barely four minutes into the second half, Veiga set up Dudu to make it 2-0 for the Sao Paulo club.

Al-Ahly responded vigorously and appeared to halve the deficit in the 71st minute when Mohamed Sherif scored thanks to a mistake by goalkeeper Weverton, but the goal was disallowed after VAR determined the attacking player was offside.

With nine minutes left in regulation, the Egyptian team went down to 10 men with the expulsion of Ayman Ashraf on a straight red card for a foul against Rony.

Sherif hit the cross-bar with a strike in stoppage time.

Champions League winners Chelsea will battle Asian federation champs Al-Hilal on Wednesday in the other semifinal. EFE wgm/dr

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