Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal won 4-0 against Iraq’s Al-Shorta in Riyadh on Tuesday to book their place in the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League Elite with a fifth win in a row as Al-Wahda from the UAE also confirmed their progress.
Marcos Leonardo scored twice to move Simone Inzaghi’s side on to a maximum 15 points from the opening five matches in the 12-team western league phase and qualify for the last 16.
The Brazilian opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time with a bullet header past Hasan Ahmed while Ahmed Yahia’s 61st-minute sending off for a second bookable offense left Al-Shorta with what proved to be an insurmountable task.
Goalkeeper Ahmed allowed Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header to slip through his hands as Al-Hilal doubled their lead two minutes later, while Leonardo nodded in the third with 18 minutes left and Cancelo hit the fourth in added time.
The top eight finishers in both the western and eastern league phases advance to March’s Round of 16, with the quarter-finals, semis and final to be played on a centralized basis in Saudi Arabia in April.
Dusan Tadic inspired Al-Wahda to come back from a goal down in the first half to defeat Qatar’s Al-Sadd 3-1 in Abu Dhabi and also confirm the Emirati outfit’s place in the knockout rounds.
Brazilian striker Claudinho had given Al-Sadd, under new manager Roberto Mancini, the lead from the penalty spot in the third minute of first-half stoppage time but Tadic levelled 10 minutes after the restart.
The former Southampton playmaker showed his class with a strike on the turn that flew into the top corner before hitting his team’s second with another emphatic finish 11 minutes later.
Tadic then turned provider with three minutes left to allow Caio Canedo to net their third, sealing the win and confirming Al-Wahda’s progress with 13 points from five matches.
“When we don’t give our opponents the initiative we are much better and this is the way Al-Wahda should play,” said Tadic. “This is how we win the game.
“In the first half I believe we gave them too much space and then everyone can play football. In the second half we didn’t give them space and we showed we’re a better team than them.”
Perfect Al-Hilal beat Al-Shorta to book Asian Champions League last-16 spot
https://arab.news/2ddzf
Perfect Al-Hilal beat Al-Shorta to book Asian Champions League last-16 spot
- The top eight finishers in both the western and eastern league phases advance to March’s Round of 16, with the quarter-finals, semis and final to be played on a centralized basis in Saudi Arabia in April
LIV Golf CEO says informal talks with PGA Tour ongoing
- LIV continues to have ‘constructive dialogue’ with OWGR on ranking points
NEW YORK: LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has said informal conversations between the Saudi-funded circuit and the PGA Tour are continuing but any hope of ending the sport’s longest-running soap opera is not currently on the horizon.
O’Neil maintains regular contact with PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, a friend and former business-school classmate, but said their communication has not brought any meaningful progress toward finalizing the framework agreement the two circuits announced in June 2023 before either were in their current role.
“The reality is we continue to have conversations, and Brian and I do have a relationship — we text, we talk relatively regularly,” O’Neil told Reuters during an interview from LIV Golf’s New York office.
“We are not in any serious negotiation at this point. We both believe that there are opportunities to work together, and we both believe that there is plenty of space in golf. We at LIV Golf are intently focused on developing LIV Golf around the world.”
Trump’s involvement
LIV Golf, which held its inaugural event in June 2022, has shaken up the golf world like never before and, with the help of mega-money contracts and lucrative purses, has lured several top names from the PGA Tour into its stable of players.
LIV players include the likes of Bryson DeChambeau — considered golf’s greatest showman — and fellow major champions Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.
After a year of acrimony, the PGA Tour, Europe-based DP World Tour and Saudi backers of LIV Golf announced in June 2023 a framework agreement to house their commercial operations in a new entity but have failed to reach a definitive agreement.
The divide has even captured the attention of US President Donald Trump, an avid golfer who was part of two meetings on the matter at the White House in February when there was optimism that the schism between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour would soon be resolved.
O’Neil said he still felt LIV Golf should “do something” with the PGA Tour but did not elaborate on what any sort of agreement would look like. He also did not give details on when, or if, the two sides plan to meet next, a stance he said he shared with Rolapp.
“We both agreed that we are going to keep all that stuff between the two of us,” said O’Neil. “If there is ever anything to report we’ll report it.”
World ranking points
When it comes to LIV’s ongoing bid for world ranking points, which are considered critical given the majors use them to help determine their fields, O’Neil is hopeful a decision on the matter could happen in the coming weeks.
LIV’s initial bid to have its players earn world ranking points was unanimously rejected by the Official World Golf Ranking in October 2023, with a key concern said to be limited access for players to join a circuit that, barring injury, featured the same players all season.
The OWGR also said at the time that LIV’s 54-hole format was an issue but one that was capable of being managed through an appropriate mathematical formula.
In June, LIV Golf renewed its pursuit of world ranking points by submitting an application with the OWGR, whose governing board includes non-voting Chairman Trevor Immelman, members from all four majors plus members of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Participating Eligible Tours.
LIV has also since announced it will expand its tournament format to 72 holes in 2026.
“We continue to have constructive dialogue,” said O’Neil. “We are hoping to get something done by the turn of the calendar (year) and we are still on that timeline.
“I have a lot of time for Trevor Immelman, a lot of respect for him as a chairman and as a leader. I found him strong, demanding, tough at times, and I think really constructive.”
‘Bullish on the future’
After 11 months as CEO, O’Neil is upbeat about LIV’s future with the circuit on pace to sell out all premium hospitality seating for 2026 — when it will stage 14 events across 10 countries — after what it called a record-setting year in 2025.
“I’ve never had this much fun in a job. I’ve never been this challenged, this exhilarated, this bullish on the future,” said O’Neil.
“When I talk about being bullish on the future I am specifically referring to the stars, so Bryson, Jon Rahm ... and the emerging young talent we have. Seeing what’s actually happening here gives me hope.
“And then the commercial momentum and success has been like nothing I have seen in 30 years in this business.”
