Palmeiras benefits from own goal, López scores for 2-0 defeat of Al-Ahly in Club World Cup

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Palmeiras benefited from an own goal by Al-Ahly's Wessam Abou Ali and secured a 2-0 win on a shot by José López before thunderstorms stalled play in the Club World Cup match at Met Life Stadium on Thursday.

Both the Brazilian Palmeiras and Egyptian Al-Ahly clubs had opportunities after the restart from a 50-minute weather delay, but Al-Ahly could not overcome its defensive struggles.

Abou Ali headed the ball into his own net just minutes into the second half. The goal started an offensive surge for Palmeiras, which broke away in the 59th minute for López's goal. He kicked a left-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner, with an assist from Maurício.

Weather delayed the match a couple of minutes later. The approximately 35,000 fans in attendance were ordered to take shelter before they returned to their seats for the restart.

Four yellow cards were handed out in the first half. Palmeiras' Raphael Veiga received a red in the 38th minute, but it was downgraded to yellow following a VAR check. Agustin Giay was also called for a yellow. Yahya Attiat Allah and Hamdy Fathy received cards for Al-Ahly.

Key moment

López's break-away goal ensured the win for the Brazilian team.

Takeaways

Palmeiras now sits at the top of the Group A standings with four points. Al-Ahly remains in third place with one point. Palmeiras will face Inter Miami at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida and Al-Ahly plays Porto at MetLife on Monday night.

What they said

“I think in general the way this type of thing (weather delay) affects the game; it was a very low beginning. It wasn’t easy to get back to the rhythm in the game. Most of the team is coming from very long seasons, levels of energy aren’t the best. These types of interruptions aren’t going to help.” – Al Ahly coach, José Riveiro.

“On the strategic side, we had to take into consideration the weather. I don’t know if you could read the face of the players, but they could feel the weather and the climate and that impacted.” — Palmeiras coach, Abel Ferreira.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer