RIYADH: It was a night of contrasting emotions in Jeddah on Friday. In the north of the city, Al-Ahli fans celebrated at Al-Inma Stadium as their side progressed to the final four of the AFC Champions League Elite with victory over Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta’zim, despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half.
In the south, however, there was disappointment for Al-Ittihad supporters at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium, as a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Machida Zelvia of Japan ensured that their season is now effectively over.
“We’ve made our vow — we stand behind you forever.” Such was the sentiment of Al-Ahli fans prior to kick-off, expressed in a tifo. More than 40,000 of them turned out to rally their team in the hopes of seeing them move a step closer to becoming only the second team to claim a second-consecutive Champions League trophy; the first, and so far only, team to secure back-to-back titles in the modern era were Al-Ittihad, in 2005 and 2006.
While the energy level on display in the stands was high, the same could not be said on the pitch, however. Al-Ahli took time to settle into the match, and so it was Johor Darul Ta’zim who struck first.
The move began when Jairo won the ball from Roger Ibanez in the final third after 19 minutes. In one of the first of several controversies on the night, the legality of his challenge was called into question as replays appeared to show he used his elbow to push Ibanez off the ball.
Play continued, however, and the Brazilian forward delivered a low cross into the box that was bundled into the net by Al-Ahli right-back Ali Majrashi for an own goal.
Majrashi’s night took even more of a turn for the worse later in the half. As he attempted to clear an aerial ball with a bicycle kick in the heart of the pitch after 37 minutes, he made contact with face of Jairo, who fell to the ground, seemingly out cold.
Majrashi was immediately sent off. There more drama when Natxo Insa was booked after angrily confronting medical staff over a perceived delay in providing his injured teammate with treatment.
After Majrashi was given his marching orders, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy gathered Al-Ahli’s players together for a brief team talk. It appeared to rally the side, and just before the break Galeno delivered a corner toward Franck Kessie, who headed home the equalizer.
It was during the second half that Galeno would truly shine, however, beating his marker before unleashing a long-range strike that put Al-Ahli ahead in the 54th minute. This, too, was accompanied by its share of controversy, as one of the Johor players was on the ground, apparently in pain, at the time but the referee nevertheless allowed play to continue.
Al-Ahli held on to see out the victory, with several saves by Mendy helping to keep their hopes of retaining the Champions League alive.
Al-Ittihad, meanwhile, were high spirits ahead of their game against Machida Zelvia. After failing to defend their Saudi Pro League title this season, and being eliminated in the semi-finals of the King Cup, the Champions League was their last shot at silverware this season.
Their opponents adopted a calculated 5-2-3 set-up clearly designed to prevent Al-Ittihad from building comfortably from the back. Fabinho was consistently marked by Tete Yengi, and the Machida wingers did enough to exploit the space behind Al-Ittihad’s full-backs to keep the Saudi side in check.
Al-Ittihad, meanwhile, failed to register a single shot inside the penalty area during the opening 45 minutes. Machida’s back five were disciplined and organized, preventing Youssef En-Nesyri from latching onto any aerial balls delivered into the box.
In the 32nd minute, the Japanese side got exactly what they were looking for. Al-Ittihad failed to deal with an incoming throw-in from the right side, and Yengi managed to sneak in a shot that deflected off Fabinho past Predrag Rajkovic. The security provided by the goal allowed Machida to retreat even deeper into their defensive block and increasingly frustrate their opponents.
Steven Bergwijn was brought on in the second half to replace Mario Mitaj, and the Dutchman immediately made an impact, adding a much-needed sense of urgency to an Al-Ittihad side in search of an equalizer.
But that desperately needed goal proved elusive. In the 52nd minute, a Houssem Aouar shot deflected off Kotaro Hayashi and struck the post, but the rebound evaded the Al-Ittihad forward. En-Nesyri also hit the post, in the 73rd minute, when he met a well-delivered cross with a diving header.
Al-Ittihad appeared finally to have leveled the score in the 86th minute, when an Abdulrahman Al-Obud free-kick was headed into the box by Aouar toward Danilo Pereira, hit his knee and somehow found its way into the net, sending the crowd into raptures.
However, the Machida calls for a review by the video assistant referee were immediate and the referee complied. Replays appeared to show the ball bouncing off Pereira’s knee onto his elbow, changing its direction toward the net, the referee ruled the goal out for handball, and the stadium fell silent.
There was little genuine threat from the Tigers after that, and Machida saw out the remaining minutes to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in the club’s history.
One quarter-final match remains: Buriram United of Thailand face Shabab Al-Ahli of the UAE on Saturday.
Al-Ahli will take on Vissel Kobe in the first of the two semifinals, on April 20. The Japanese side grabbed a late equalizer against Al-Sadd on Thursday to hold them to a 3-3 draw, before edging past them 5-4 on penalties. Machida Zelvia and the winners of Saturday’s last-remaining quarter-final will battle it out on April 21.
