JEDDAH: Al-Hilal secured an important 2-1 victory against Al-Ahli of
of UAE in the AFC Champions League at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh yesterday.
Under pressure to win after two draws Hilal did just that, with Romanian star Radio hitting the winner in injury time one a penalty kick.
Radio’s goal came after Yaser Al-Qahtani equalized with a header in the 32nd minute of the Group A match in which Ahmad Khalil of Ahli drew first blood with a 13th minute strike following an error by a Hilal defender.
In the same group, Pakhtakor Tashkent of Uzbekistan defeated Saba Batry of Iran 2-0. Pakhtakor leads the group with seven points and Hilal second with five points. Saba Batry is third with 2 points and Ahli last with one point only.
Saudi clubs in action had mixed results after Al-Ittihad escaped with a 0-0 draw against Al-Jazira of UAE in Group C. On more than one occasion Al-Jazira came close to scoring a goal against Ittihad which in turn was saved by its goalkeeper many times.
Ittihad remains top of the group with seven points while Al-Jazira is third with two points. In group’s other match, Umm Salal of Qatar defeated Esteghlal Tehran of Iran 1-0. Umm Salal jumped to second place with six points, one point adrift of Ittihad while Esteghlal is stuck at the bottom with one point.
Meantime, the two other Saudi clubs in the fold, Al-Shabab and Al-Ittifaq plunge into action today against UAE rivals.
Shabab is in UAE to face Al-Sharjah in a Group B match, while Ittifaq entertains Shabab in Dammam. Ittifaq and Shabab are bracketed in Group D.
Shabab leads the group with four points from one win and one draw. Al-Sharjah is last in the standings with no points from two losses. Shabab is looking to add a further three points and to score as many goals as possible to keep Piroozi Perspolis of Iran, which battles Al-Garrafa of Qatar, at bay. Al-Garrafa is third with three points and Piroozi is equal with Shab on four points.
Group D is complicated as all teams in this group have three points each from one win and one loss. Sepahan of Iran is on top by virtue of a better goal difference, which Ittifaq will try to overturn by scoring as many goals as possible in the victory against the UAE side.
In the other match of the group, FC Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan will host Sepahan of Iran.
In the Saudi Professional League, round 21 matches today will feature Abha against Al-Nasr, Al-Raid against Wehda, Al-Hazem against Najran and Al-Aqatani against Al-Ahli.
Kashima, Shanghai stay on track
Victories for Japan’s Kashima Antlers, Korea’s Ulsan, Shanghai Shenhua and Uzbek heavyweights Pakhtakor kept them on track for the AFC Champions League knockout rounds yesterday.
Kashima, back-to-back J-League winners, trounced Singapore Armed Forces 4-1 while Ulsan ground out a well-deserved 1-0 home win over Beijing Guoan.
In other games, Nagoya Grampus were held to a 1-1 draw by Australia’s Newcastle Jets, although the Japanese outfit go top of Group E after Ulsan claimed their first victory of the campaign over Beijing. Shanghai needed a late goal from Belarus forward Vyacheslav Hleb, younger brother of Barcelona star Alexander, to beat Korea’s Suwon Bluewings 2-1 and move to six points in Group G. They share the lead alongside Suwon and Kashima, with Singapore, who only qualified through February’s playoffs, also rans.
Armed Forces were out of their depth as Masahi Motoyama, Atsuto Uchida and Yuya Osako all got on the score sheet for Kashima before a Daniel Bennett own goal completed the home team’s miserable night.
In Nagoya, Japanese international Keiji Tamada came off the bench to fire an equalizer. Tarek Elrich had put the Australians ahead after nine minutes but Tamada’s freekick midway through the second half ensured the spoils were shared.
Beijing had a golden opportunity to become outright leaders in their group but failed to break down the Ulsan defense. Instead, Ulsan substitute Oh Jang-Eun struck the decisive blow with 20 minutes left.
The Koreans knew they must win after crashing in their first opening two games and they had goalkeeper Kim Young-Kwang to thank for preserving the points as he saved a late Huang Bowen penalty.
— With input from AFP
