Gonzalo goal sends Madrid into Club World Cup quarter-finals

Real Madrid overcame Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. The tie was decided after a superb second half from Xabi Alonso's side, who clinched their place after 54 minutes with a tremendous header from Gonzalo and were denied further goals by a superb performance from Di Gregorio in goal. The Whites await the winners of the last-16 clash between Borussia Dortmund and Monterrey.

The Whites pressed high up the pitch early on and stole the ball with ease against a Juventus side that tried to spring a surprise on the counter-attack. The Italians' strategy almost reaped rewards after seven minutes with a through ball to Kolo Muani, who missed the target by inches when he only had Courtois to beat. Madrid then responded with a long-range effort from Valverde in the 9th minute and Juventus went close again two minutes later with a Yildiz strike that clipped off Tchouameni and grazed the post.

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As the minutes elapsed, Juventus threatened the Madrid area again. Conceição's effort was saved by Courtois in the 23rd minute and on the half-hour mark the Madridistas had their best chance of the half. Valverde slipped the ball behind the defence and Bellingham's shot from just inside the area forced a fine save from Di Gregorio. In stoppage time, Valverde's fierce drive from the edge of the area was met by another excellent save from the Italian goalkeeper.

Gonzalo on target once again
Real Madrid came out even more dominant after the break and Di Gregorio quickly became the star of the match. Bellingham cut inside with his left foot on the edge of the area and then unleashed a right-footed strike that the keeper parried away in the 52nd minute. A minute later, Huijsen's stunning effort from more than 30 metres out was saved by the Juventus goalkeeper. It seemed like only a matter of time before Madrid opened the scoring and it was not long in coming. Trent's neat cross from the right wing in the 54th minute was met by Gonzalo's header, which Di Gregorio could do nothing about. The academy product has now found the back of the net in three of the four World Cup games (Al Hilal and Salzburg are the other two) and against Pachuca he also added an assist.

Xabi Alonso's men had gained a deserved lead, but they wanted more. They pushed to extend their lead and had the chance to do so after Valverde's bicycle kick inside the area in the 61st minute was tipped behind for a corner by Di Gregorio. In the 68th minute, Mbappé made his return, replacing the goalscoring Gonzalo for his first appearance in the competition. Four minutes later, Madrid almost grabbed their second goal, but Di Gregorio was once again on hand to punch away Arda Güler's volley from the edge of the area. He also kept out Tchouameni's shot in the 82nd minute. His heroics prevented Real Madrid from scoring more goals, and from then until the closing stages, they had little more to worry about to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.