1-0 Cristiano Ronaldo

REAL MADRID 1 GREMIO 0: RONALDO FREE-KICK SECURES CLUB WORLD CUP GLORY

Real Madrid won a fifth trophy of the year as Cristiano Ronaldo secured a 1-0 defeat of Gremio in the Club World Cup final.
Cristiano Ronaldo led the way as Real Madrid beat Gremio 1-0 to successfully retain the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, securing them a fifth trophy of 2017.

Gremio coach Renato Gaucho claimed in the build-up that he was a better player than Ronaldo, and the Portugal star provided the perfect response on the pitch, frequently troubling the Brazilian side and scoring the all-important goal.

Real Madrid often looked susceptible on the counter-attack in their 2-1 semi-final win over Al Jazira, though the same could not be said against Gremio as the European champions exerted complete control in the first half.

Plenty of chances fell Madrid's way, though it took them until the second half to break the deadlock and there was more than a hint of fortune about it, with Ronaldo's free-kick somehow finding its way past Marcelo Grohe and making him the first player to score in successive Club World Cup finals.