Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was shown a red card in the first half of the Al-Ittihad vs Al-Hilal clash
Al-Hilal player Sergej Milinkovic-Savic received a controversial red card in the first half of their semi-final King Cup of Champions clash against Al-Ittihad. The Al-Hilal player was involved in a full-blooded challenge on the opponent’s player. The on-field referee was sent to the pitch-side monitor to have a look at the tackle made by Milinkovic-Savic.
The referee then decided to hand out the player a red card and told him to leave the pitch immediately. However, the decision didn’t go well with the Al-Hilal players as they mobbed the referee and started questioning him. It seemed like they thought, their teammates’ challenge wasn’t worthy of a red card. But, the official has made his mind up.
Just over the 40th-minute mark of the match, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic tackled the Al-Ittihad player Al-Ghamdi for what on the naked eye seemed to be a very fifty-fifty challenge at first sight. However, the ball did get away from the Al-Hilal player a bit before he decided to make the challenge in pursuit of it. His studs were also slightly showing up at the time he caught the opponent’s player on the lower part of the right leg.
Al-Hilal defeats Al-Ittihad in the King Cup of Champions semi-final despite Milinkovic-Savic’s red card
Al-Hilal showed great effort and resilience in their victory over Al-Ittihad in the semi-final of the King Cup of Champions. Despite being down to ten men ever since the later stages of the first half of the match after a red card to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, they defended quite well and also grabbed the initiative to attack whenever the right opportunities arrived.
Michael gave Al-Hilal an early lead in the 25th minute of the match. But, Al-Ittihad leveled the score in the second half through a goal by Hamdallah. It was at this moment it looked like that the 10-men Al-Hilal might crumble as their opponents could win it by scripting a comeback during the later stages of the second half of the game.
However, the Blues didn’t let that happen, as they defended well in certain moments when the momentum was with Al-Ittihad, and then in the 81st minute of the semi-final clash Saud Abdulhamid scored a goal that turned out to be an unlikely winner for them in the knock-out match. With this win, they have qualified for the finals of the King Cup of Champions 2023-2024 edition and have knocked Al-Ittihad out of the competition.
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