Big pre-match favourites Man City got off to a perfect - albeit controversial start - when on nine minutes, Bernardo Silva tapped home from close range after a clearance was blocked into his path by Ilkay Gundogan in the six-yard box.
A VAR review for handball against the German was quickly dismissed, but the replay being displayed on the big screen sparked vociferous protests from the Al Hilal players that saw the restart delayed.
Simone Inzaghi’s side attempted to channel that sense of injustice into an instant response, but despite some tidy passages of play, Ederson remained untroubled as his side failed to register a shot on target before the break.
The opposite was true at the other end, with Yassine Bounou making save after save to deny the City onslaught for a second goal. Erling Haaland saw his header tipped over the bar, while sharp reflex saves denied Savinho and Jeremy Doku to keep Al Hilal’s deficit at one heading into half-time.
Bounou’s heroics looked even more heroic when, with Inzaghi’s team talk still ringing in their ears, Al Hilal staged a remarkable turnaround to flip the game on its head within seven minutes of the restart.
First, Marcos Leonardo scrambled an equaliser after City failed to deal with a cross from the right wing, before Malcom was slotted through and sprinted from his own half to slot past Ederson and give the Saudi side the lead.
Their jubilation lasted all of three minutes, though, as Haaland slammed an equaliser home on 55 minutes after Inzaghi’s men failed to clear a corner.
The chaotic nature of the contest continued as Malcolm thought he had won a penalty in the immediate aftermath of the game’s fourth goal, only to be denied by a marginal offside in the build-up.
With the players noticeably tiring, the tempo of the game dropped, and ET was inevitable after Ali Lajami produced an outstanding goalline clearance to deny Haaland a late winner.
The Al Hilal players had looked exhausted at the end of regulation time, but they started ET in perfect fashion when Rúben Neves’ pinpoint corner was brilliantly headed past the helpless Ederson by Kalidou Koulibaly.
Guardiola responded with the introduction of Phil Foden, and it immediately paid off when he produced an outstanding first-time finish to make it 3-3 from Rayan Cherki’s stunning cross.
With both sides physically flagging, Al Hilal landed the knockout blow in the 113th minute. Ederson produced an outstanding one-handed save to deny Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but he could only push the ball into the path of Marcos Leonardo, who almost fell into the net with the ball to put his side into the quarter-finals where they will face Fluminense.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal)
Check out all the match stats here.
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