Kodjo Laba scored just before halftime, Kaku broke through just after and Al Ain rallied to a 2-1 victory over Wydad AC on Thursday in Washington, D.C., in both teams’ final matches of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Kaku’s goal during a match when video review played a pivotal role stood as the winner for Al Ain (1-2-0, 3 points), which escaped unscathed despite Laba’s stunning 76th-minute miss from very close range. The United Arab Emirates side finished third in Group G despite being previously routed 5-0 by Juventus and 6-0 by Manchester City.
Cassius Mailula scored early for Wydad (0-3-0, 0 points), which gave more respectable performances against those European powers but was a clear second-best here.
Despite taking the early lead and playing before a stadium primarily of their supporters, the Moroccans struggled to maintain their pace in a match played in the mid-afternoon sun and temperatures hovering around 93 degrees Fahrenheit/34 Celsius.
Both Al Ain’s goals involved video reviews by American referee Drew Fischer that went in their favor.
On the first, Fischer reversed his initial decision to wave play on following a tangle of legs between Wydad’s Ayoub Boucheta and Al Ain’s Adis Jasic, ruling instead that Boucheta had tripped the attacker in the area.
Laba stepped up and converted for the Middle Eastern club’s first goal in the tournament, in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
Then after Kaku put the Emerati side in front in the 50th minute, Fischer was again summoned to the pitch-side monitor.
This time, he upheld his ruling that Matias Palacios had not fouled Jamal Harkass in the aftermath of his sliding shot, even though the impact of their collision forced Harkass off for the match’s remainder.
Wydad went in front in the fourth minute. Mohamed Moufid played a good combination down the right, then dragged a low cross back into the front edge of the penalty area.
Mailula took a touch moment to control it, then fired a half-volley into the top right corner to beat the diving Rui Patricio.
–Field Level Media
