April 30 – In front of 50,613 fans at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah the all-Saudi AFC Champions League Elite semi-final saw Al Ahli beat Al Hilal 3-1 to qualify for Saturday’s final against either Saudi Pro League rivals Al Nassr Club or Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale.
Al Hilal were chasing their fifth Champions League title but were knocked out in the semi-finals for the second successive season. None of the teams left in the competition have won it before.
The match was intense from the start with AL Ahli starting the fastest with England striker Ivan Toney heading wide from a Riyad Mahrez free-kick within five minutes.
Al Ahli’s vociferous support did not have to wait long for their first goal with Roger Ibanez playing the ball over Al Hilal’s defence Galeno to keep in play before cutting the ball bat to Roberto Firmino to sidefoot home.
Al Hilal were on the back foot with goalkeeper Yassine Bounou keeping them in the game with a one-handed save to deny Franck Kessie.
There was little the Moroccan keeper could do for the second goal on 27 minutes. Mahrez picked out Toney’s run who beat the onrushing Bounou to slide the ball into the net.
Al Hilal were stunned and needed to bring more urgency to their game. On the 31st minute they had their first sight at goal but Marcos Leonardo shot was off target, but their improvement was rewarded in the 42nd minute.
A poor touch in Al Ahli’s defence saw Salem Al Dawsari pounce to blast his shot past Edouard Mendy for his 10th goal of the campaign.
With tempers rising at the end of the first half Al Hilal’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Al Ahli’s Merih Demiral were shown yellow cards while an Al Hilal official was sent off.
The second half started where the first left off match. Toney twice had goals ruled out for offside while Al Hilal were particularly dangerous on the counter.
Just before the hour mark disaster struck for Al Ahli with Koulibaly picking up a second yellow, reducing his team to 10 men.
A heroic rearguard action kept a rampant Al Ahli at bay with Firmino, Mahrez and Galeno all hitting the woodwork. In the end Feras Albrikan came off the bench to strike in stoppage time and put the tie beyond doubt and send an emotionally exhausted crowd home.
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