Al-Hilal came from behind to defeat Qatar’s Al-Duhail 2-1 in their opening match of the AFC Champions League Elite group stage on Tuesday. Second-half strikes from summer signings Darwin Nunez and Theo Hernandez won the clash for the Riyadh club.
The match burst into life 10 minutes before the break as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic let fly from outside the area for Al-Duhail’s Salah Zakaria to tip around the post.
However, from the resultant corner, Senegalese defender Youssouf Sabaly won the ball before lifting a long ball over the home defence for Adil Boulbina to outpace the backline, run into the area past goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, and slide home to complete a devastating counterattack.
It spurred the hosts into action and they thought they were back on level terms on the stroke of half-time. The Qatari team failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Yusuf Akcicek just outside the area. The Turkish teenager fired a low shot into the bottom corner but the strike was ruled out by VAR after a Marcos Leonardo handball was spotted in the build-up.
After the break Al-Hilal continued to push forward but the ball would just not fall for the Blues in the area. However, just before the hour, a well-worked attack saw the four-times continental champions move the ball quickly in the final third. Milinkovic-Savic found Hamad Al-Yami on the right who pulled his pass back for fellow substitute Nunez to sidefoot home from just outside the six-yard box.
The Saudi Arabian side were far from satisfied and went in search of a second, albeit by leaving gaps at the back.
But the ploy paid off when Hernandez’s shot from outside the area took a deflection to give Zakaria no chance and the home team the start they wanted in the competition.
