FOOTBALL – Record winners Al Hilal are through to the Asian Champions League semi-finals after they defeated fellow Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad 2-0 in Jeddah last night to advance 4-0 on aggregate.
The four-time continental champions, runners-up last year, triumphed in the quarter-final second leg at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium thanks to second-half goals from Yasser Al Shahrani and Malcom.
With the win, Hilal set a new world record for consecutive victories, at 28.
Ittihad’s miserable night was summed up in the final minute of normal time, when striker Abderrazak Hamdallah was given a second booking for grabbing Hilal defender Ali Al Bulaihi by the throat. The confrontation sparked a number of clashes between the opposing sets of players.
Hilal will meet Al Ain of the UAE in the last four next month following the 2003 champions’ penalty shootout win against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Monday.
Ittihad, Champions League winners in 2004 and 2005, were missing a number of key players for the second leg. Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner signed last summer from Real Madrid, was once more missing through injury, while 2018 World Cup winner N’Golo Kante was suspended after being sent off in the first leg last week.
However, it was the current Saudi Pro League champions who carried the greater threat for the majority. Ittihad almost opened the scoring in the 17th minute, when Romarinho’s left-foot strike from the edge of the Hilal penalty area cannoned back off the post.
At the beginning of the second half, Hilal goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais was twice called into action. First, the Saudi Arabia international blocked Marwan Al Sahafi’s low strike on the counter, before he leapt to his right to brilliantly palm away Ahmed Al Ghamdi’s fierce drive from range.
Yet, on 61 minutes, Hilal made safe their spot in the semi-finals. Salem Al Dawsari played in Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for the Serbian international to feed Al Shahrani, who placed low past Ittihad goalkeeper Abdullah Al Mayouf.
Malcom then wrapped up the result deep into injury time, the Brazilian racing onto Aleksandar Mitrovic’s through ball to seal a memorable night for the Riyadh giants.
Hilal, who lead the Saudi Pro League by 12 points, have won their past nine Champions League matches. They lifted the trophy most recently in 2021.
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