One down, two to go, or rather one through to the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League for Saudi Arabia with the potential for more to come.
Al-Shabab defeated FC Nasaf 2-0 in their second-round clash in Qatar on Sunday and it remains to be seen if they are joined in the last eight by fellow Saudi Arabian teams Al-Hilal and Al-Faisaly, who are in action on Monday.
If those two can follow Sunday’s victors in the last eight, they will be delighted and even more so if they progress as smoothly as Al-Shabab did against the team from Uzbekistan. While this meeting in the West Asia zone of the continental tournament — which is divided into two geographic halves until the final — was a competitive one, once Al-Shabab took an early lead, they always looked likely to emerge victorious.
Vicente Moreno’s men have looked like a serious contender from the beginning, winning their group in style by scoring 18 goals and conceding one, and look to have improved since the group stage finished last year.
The opening goal came after just 12 minutes. Ever Banega slotted the ball to Hussain Al-Qahtani, who galloped forward, and it seemed that all expected that the midfielder would lay the ball off. Yet with the space given by the retreating defenders, he kept going and decided to have a shot. While Abduvakhid Nematov looked to have it covered, a slight deflection wrongfooted the goalkeeper and the men in white were in front.
With Al-Shabab coming into the tournament on the back of four consecutive wins in the Roshn Saudi League where they sit joint top alongside Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr, it left Nasaf, who had never appeared in the knockout stage of the Champions League before, with a mountain to climb. Yet the early breakthrough brought the Uzbekistan team out a little and they were almost back level eight minutes before the break when Riad Sharahili gave the ball away on the edge of the area but Oybek Bozorov’s shot cleared the bar.
Nine minutes after the restart, the roles from the first goal were reversed as Riyadh club took control of the tie in style. Al-Qahtani laid the ball off for Banega, and just outside the right side of the area the Argentine let fly with a shot that fizzed off the inside foot of the right post and then into the net.
The Central Asians did their best to get back into the game. With 15 minutes remaining, Javokhir Sidikov danced into the area and looked ready to pull the trigger but good defensive work from Nader Al-Sharari snuffed out the danger.
The tie ended in familiar fashion with Banega bearing down on goal. This time, however, his shot was saved by Nematov and that was that. Al-Shabab gave a solid performance and left a sense that there is a higher gear that they can reach if needed. Sooner or later, it will be.
Earlier in the day, Al-Duhail triumphed in the all-Qatar tie, defeating Al-Rayyan 7-6 in a penalty shootout after 120 minutes ended 1-1.
On Monday, Al-Hilal meet Shabab Al-Ahli of the UAE while Al-Faisaly take on Iran’s Foolad.
The quarter-finals will take place on Thursday with the semifinal held next Sunday. The team that emerges from the West Asian zone will go on to take on Urawa Reds of Japan in a two-legged final in April.
