Monterrey 2-2 Al-Hilal: Mexican side finish third at Club World Cup
- Published
Monterrey beat Al-Hilal on penalties in third-place play-off
Mexican side Monterrey beat Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal 4-3 on penalties to equal their best performance at a Club World Cup with a third-place finish.
Captain Carlos Eduardo met Yasser Al-Shahrani's cross to head Al Hilal in front after 35 minutes in Qatar.
Monterrey fought back with two goals in five second-half minutes through Arturo Gonzalez' header and Maximiliano Meza.
Substitute Bafetimbi Gomis responded for Al Hilal, before going agonisingly close to heading an injury-time winner.
The match went straight to penalties, where Monterrey prevailed after goalkeeper Luis Cardenas denied Eduardo and Mohamed Kanno before converting the winning penalty himself.
Monterrey, denied a place in the final by Premier League leaders Liverpool, had goalkeeper Cardenas to thank as he prevented Omar Khribin extending Al Hilal's advantage at the end of a tight first half.
Antonio Mohamed's side swiftly turned the game around after the interval - Gonzalez' 55th-minute header followed up by Meza's tap-in from Angel Zaldivar's low cross. Gomis struck the equaliser after 66 minutes but failed to settle the match late on.
Liverpool face Brazilian side Flamengo in the Club World Cup final later on Saturday (17:30 GMT), the match live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website from 17:15 GMT.