RIYADH: Al-Hilal remain top of Group B in the AFC Champions League Elite after a 3-1 home victory over Al-Sadd of Qatar at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on Tuesday night.
The result means they are the only club in the 24-team competition with a 100 percent record of nine points from their opening three matches.
A 4-0 win over Al-Gharafa on Monday night leaves fellow Saudi side Al-Ahli, the reigning champions, in second place on seven points, while the remaining Saudi participants, Pro League champions Al-Ittihad, are in seventh place after beating Al-Shorta of Iraq 4-1 in Baghdad, also on Monday, to pick up their first points of the campaign.
Al-Hilal took the lead on 25 minutes through Turkish international defender Yusuf Akcicek after Al-Sadd’s defence made a hash of clearing a Theo Hernandez free kick. The home team’s other center-half, Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly, was credited with an assist for having the last touch before the decisive finish.
Five minutes before the break, Koulibaly turned goalscorer, nodding in a Ruben Neves corner from close range. After a long check by the video assistant referee for a possible foul, the goal was allowed to stand.
Al-Sadd got themselves back in the game in the 64th minute when former Al-Ahli captain Roberto Firmino stole in at the far post to tap home Pedro Miguel’s low cross from the right.
However, it was Al-Hilal who scored next, with nine minutes remaining, to all but kill off the match as a contest. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic hit a wonderful free kick from more than 30 yards out, curling the ball past a despairing Meshaal Bersham in goal.
