Bale strike saves Real's blushes
Gareth Bale came off the bench to book Real Madrid's place in the Club World Cup final as the European champions recovered from the shock of going behind to beat Emirati champions Al Jazira 2-1 on Wednesday.
Despite dominating throughout, Madrid trailed at half-time to Romarinho's opener in a match also marred by use of the video assistant referee (VAR) that ruled out a goal for both sides.
Madrid's pressure finally paid off 10 minutes into the second half when Cristiano Ronaldo levelled before Bale broke Al Jazira's resistance with his first touch eight minutes from time.
Madrid could easily have scored more but for some exceptional goalkeeping from Ali Khaseif.
Benzema also had a goal ruled out for a push by Ronaldo in the build-up, but Madrid thought they had finally gone ahead when Casemiro's header deflected off an Al Jazira head and looped over Khaseif. However, after a four-minute delay for the VAR referral, Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci disallowed the goal due to Benzema being in an offside position despite the fact the Frenchman was arguably not interfering with play.
Madrid were shocked four minutes before the break when the hosts caught the Real defence cold on the counter-attack.
A poor clearance from Nacho gifted away possession inside the Madrid half and Romarinho showed great composure to cut inside and curl his shot inside Keylor Navas' far post. A monumental upset looked on when Al Jazira had the ball in the net for a second time two minutes into the second half.
However, this time VAR came to Madrid's rescue as Mbark Boussoufa was offside by the finest of margins before slotting home.
Eight minutes later, Ronaldo was played in by Modric and smashed a shot past Khaled Al Senaani, who had replaced the injured Khaseif moments earlier. Benzema was eventually replaced by Bale, and the Welshman made an instant impact as he slotted home Lucas Vazquez's cutback to Real's relief.
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