AL HILAL 2 AL AHLI 2
Al Hilal - Al Shamrani 60', 74' Al Ahli - Jimenez 53', Grafite 58'
Man of the match - Nasser Al Shamrani (Al Hilal)
Al Ahli kicked off the AFC Champions League group stages with an encouraging 2-2 draw with Al Hilal in Riyadh but it could have been so much more.
The Arabian Gulf League leaders carried their excellent domestic form into the match and in front of a partisan crowd of 38,000 at King Fahd Stadium they almost pulled off a famous victory.
The home team started brighter but it was the visitors who came the closest to breaking the deadlock. Brazilian forward Ciel’s left foot shot took a slight deflection, taking it beyond the far post with Al Hilal goalkeeper Fayz Al Sabiay beaten.
With five minutes of the first half left, Al Hilal missed a glorious chance when Nasser Al Shamrani fired over from inside the six-yard box. Inspired by the Brazilian Digao, Al Hilal started the second half on the front foot, but it was Al Ahli that took the lead on 53 minutes, Luis Jimenez latching onto Ciel’s excellent flicked pass to score with a superb volley.
Five minutes later, Al Ahli looked to have wrapped up the match, another stunning breakaway move ending with a Jimenez cross for Grafite to sidefoot into the roof of the net.
On the hour Al Hilal were thrown a lifeline when Al Shamrani made up for his first-half miss with a firm header from a corner.
The goal lifted the crowd and with 15 minutes left Al Shamrani squared the match with another close range finish from Digao’s header.
Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu threw on Ahmed Khalil for the remainder of the match, but it was Al Hilal who almost snatched the win, Yousef Al Salem hitting the post five minutes from the end.
Earlier in the day, Qatar’s Al Sadd had beaten Sepahan of Iran 3-1 in Doha to go to the top of the group, while the draw leaves Al Hilal And Al Ahli in joint second place.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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