RIYADH: A double by the tournament’s leading scorer Nassir al Shamrani saw Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal take a huge step towards the Asian Champions League final with a 3-0 drubbing over Al Ain in the first leg of their semi-final yesterday.
The UAE club — the inaugural winners of the trophy — paid a heavy price in a manic 10-minute spell in the second half, when they not only went down to 10 men, but also conceded three goals.
Al Shamrani, who had already scored seven goals in the competition, scored twice in the space of three minutes — in the 61st and 64th minutes — before Hilal’s Brazilian import, Thiago Neves, completed the scoreline in the 70th minute.
Perhaps rattled by letting in two goals to Al Shamrani, Ain Ain’s UAE national goalkeeper Khalid Eisa brought down Nawaf al Abed, and was sent off.
It could have been 4-0 within that 10-minute span, but Neves’ penalty that came along with Eisa’s eviction in the 65th minute was saved by replacement ‘keeper Dawoud Sulaiman.
Both the goalscorers came agonisingly close to scoring the in the closing stages of the first half, which ended goalless despite Al Hilal enjoying a lion’s share of possession — 58 per cent compared to their rivals.
There was a huge relief for Al Ain when Al Shamrani raced clear and smashed the ball against the post in time added on.
Three minutes before that, Thiago’s superb in-swinging effort clipped the crossbar. Al Ain have scored a tournament-best 23 goals from their 10 outings, but they never came close to troubling the Al Hilal defence.AFP
