DOHA: Bafetimbi Gomis starred as Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal took a giant step toward the AFC Champions League final with a 4-1 drubbing of Qatari giants Al Sadd, coached by Xavi, in the first leg of their semifinal clash in Doha on Tuesday.
Gomis went from villain to hero by equalising for Al Hilal after having helped Al Sadd go ahead in the 14th minute with an own goal, while Ali Al-Bulayhi and Mohamed Al-Shalhoub also netted for the visitors at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium
Al Sadd’s Salem Al-Hajjiri also scored an own goal to help boost the visitors’ score before the second leg clash in Riyadh on October 22.
Al Sadd and Al Hilal have a storied history in the West Asian region, both teams having won the Champions League on two occasions.
But Al Hilal had won only once before in their nine away encounters against Al Sadd, a fact that must have boosted Xavi and his men’s confidence ahead of the match.
On Tuesday, however, the home side failed to make their chances count, and to make matters worse for them Abdelkarim Hassan was sent off in the 35th minute — for a foul and then for arguing with the referee.
Needless to say the exit of the defender — who was named Asian Player of the Year in 2018 — was a big blow for Xavi’s side as they struggled to contain the Al Hilal forward, of whom Gomis was a constant threat.
Al Sadd were more enterprising in the early stages with Akram Afif and Hassan Al-Haydos excelling up front and creating quite a few chances.
Afif elicited a fine save from goalkeeper Abdulla Al-Mayouf and later found his shot from close hit the upright much to the disappointment of the near-capacity crowd.
But luck shone on the hosts in the 14th minute when Al-Haydos cut in from the right off a corner and shot across the goalmouth, only for Gomis to attempt a clearance with the ball ending up in the Al Hilal net.
Gomis, however, made amends in the 33rd minute with a simple finish after a cross from Sebastian Giovinco following a defensive lapse involving Tarek Salman and Boualem Khoukhi.
Just before the first half ended, Al Sadd conceded another goal with Al-Bulyahi heading home from close range after the ball was nodded on to him off a corner by Giovinco.
Gomis was also involved in Al Hilal’s third goal when under pressure from him Al-Hajjri was forced to make contact with the ball inside the six yard box and sent it into his own net as Al Hilal went 3-1 up in the 60th minute.
Al Hilal completed the rout in the 67th minute when Al-Shalhoub received Mohamed Kanno’s pass and drilled it into the bottom of the net.
Gomis shines as Al Hilal drub Xavi’s Al Sadd 4-1
Gomis shines as Al Hilal drub Xavi’s Al Sadd 4-1
- Gomis went from villain to hero by equalising for Al Hilal after having helped Al Sadd go ahead in the 14th minute with an own goal
- Saudi team take a giant step toward the AFC Champions League final
Al-Hilal win tightens Saudi Pro League title race
- The 3-2 victory over Al-Khaleej leaves Al-Hilal a single point behind Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr, who play on Saturday
DUBAI: The gap at the top of the Saudi Pro League table was cut to just one point on Friday night, following Al-Hilal’s 3-2 win over Al-Khaleej.
Simone Inzaghi’s team leapfrogged Al-Taawoun into second place to remain the closest challengers to Al-Nassr in the title fight, with the leaders set to host Al-Okhdood on Saturday.
Al-Hilal opened the scoring on 18 minutes when Mohammed Kanno met Hamad Al-Yami’s lay-off on the edge of the penalty area, his long-range shot beating Al-Khaleej goalkeeper Anthony Moris at his left-hand post.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic doubled the lead on 39 from Malcom’s assist to leave the visitors with a mountain to climb in the second half. Al-Hilal looked to have secured all three points comfortably when Malcom made it 3-0 on 57 minutes, but Al-Khaleej had other ideas.
Joshua King’s goal on 79 minutes looked to be nothing more than a consolation, but five minutes later Al-Hilal were left sweating after Giorgos Masouras cut their lead to a single goal. The visitors’ revival was short-lived, however, with no more additions to the score.
The defeat leaves Al-Khaleej in eighth place, with three matches still to be played on Saturday.
Earlier on Friday, Al-Taawoun briefly climbed to second place in the table after an away win against Al-Kholood at Al-Hazem Stadium. Their goals came from Christopher Zambrano after 22 minutes and a William Troost-Ekong’s own goal in the 75th; Al-Taawoun ended the match with 10 men after Muteb Al-Mufarrij was sent off in stoppage time, but the three points were already secured.
Al-Hilal’s win later in the day meant Al-Taawoun dropped to third, while Al-Kholood sit in 12th.
The first match of the day saw Al-Fateh shock reigning Asian champions Al-Ahli with a 2-1 win, after falling behind at home to Valentin Atangana’s 22nd-minute goal. However, the home team turned the match around with two goals from Maria Vargas either side of half time.
The win saw Al-Fateh rise to 14th while Al-Ahli stayed in fourth.
