Palmeiras is one game away from taking revenge in the Club World Cup; awaits Chelsea or Al Hilal in the final

Palmeiras qualified for the Club World Cup final after beating the Egyptian Al Ahly 2-0, the team that defeated them in the match for third place in the previous edition (2020), this Tuesday at the Al Nahyan stadium in Abu Dabi.

The Sao Paulo club, who beat the African champions thanks to goals from Raphael Veiga (minute 39) and Dudu (minute 48), will face the winner of the clash between Chelsea, reigning champions of the UEFA Champions League, and the Saudi Al Hilal, champion of Asia, who will play on Wednesday.

Veiga first warned with a header in the heart of the area, but goalkeeper Aly Lofti managed to catch the ball without any problems. In those moments, Al-Ahly tried to surprise the counterattack, but could not find the last pass that would bring them closer to Weverton’s goal.

The South American team played a solid defensive game avoiding any oversight and allowing the opponent to have possession of the ball. But, it did not seem that Palmeiras dominated either.

However, Dudu masterfully served the ball to Veiga, who stood alone in front of the goalkeeper, to pierce the net with a cross shot and upload the first goal to the electronic.

In the end, Palmeiras’ patience in the first half helped the team generate the only dangerous chance for the Brazilians, which ended in a goal.

Al Ahly went to the locker room with the idea of ​​recomposing the strategy to come back from the game, but Duda took advantage in the first moments of the second half to introduce the ball into the opponent’s area from midfield and score with a powerful shot.

In those moments, Al-Ahly made a triple substitution to go all out and put pressure on their rival, who began to lose coordination.

A goal invalidated by the VAR by Mohamed Sherif (minute 71) for offside would have put the Egyptians back in the game, but the red card of captain Ayman Ashraf (80) for a violent kick left little chance to dream of the Africans with turning the scoreboard around.

In added time, Al Ahly had two chances to pull one back, but the crossbar got in the way after the first attempt was parried by the goalkeeper.

Verdao is now one game away from inscribing its name in the competition’s list of winners along with that of its compatriots Corinthians (2000, 2012), Sao Paulo FC (2005) and Internacional de Porto Alegre (2006), the only teams that until moment they were able to triumph over Europe in the Club World Cup.