Al Hilal Avoid First Continental Defeat and Beat Al Duhail

Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia secured their first win of the season in the AFC Champions League Elite, defeating Qatari side Al Duhail 2-1 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh in the final fixture of the opening round of the continental competition.

Al Duhail complicated matters for the hosts when Algerian Adel Boulbina opened the scoring (37’), but “Al Zaeem” responded with goals from Uruguayan Darwin Núñez (57’) and Frenchman Theo Hernández (67’).

From the start, Al Hilal pushed forward in attack. Brazilian Malcom unleashed a powerful shot that flew off target (9’), while Nasser Al-Dawsari fired just wide (15’). 

Goalkeeper Salah Zakaria kept Al Duhail ahead, denying Malcom’s strike and tipping it behind for a corner (26’), before making another save to push Serbian Sergej Milinković-Savić’s effort wide (36’).

Al Duhail broke the deadlock against the run of play with a swift counterattack, as Boulbina dribbled past Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou before slotting the ball into the net (37’).

Al Hilal nearly equalized in stoppage time when Salem Al-Dawsari’s powerful strike was deflected for a corner, but the breakthrough came early in the second half through Núñez (47’). 

Salem Al-Dawsari forced another save from Zakaria (64’), before Hernández sealed the comeback by capitalizing on a defensive error to slot home the winner (67’).

Shabab Al Ahli Held to Disappointing Draw

Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE were held to a frustrating 1-1 home draw by ten-man Tractor of Iran in Dubai.

Tractor opened the scoring through Croatian Tomislav Strkalj (14’), before going down to ten men after the dismissal of fellow Croatian Domagoj Drožđek (51’). Shabab Al Ahli failed to fully capitalize, managing only the equalizer from Brazilian Guilherme da Silva (65’).

The UAE champions were repeatedly denied by Iranian international goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand but extended their unbeaten run against Iranian sides to ten matches, while Tractor avoided defeat against Emirati clubs for the sixth straight match in the continental competition.

Tractor, last season’s Iranian league champions for the first time in their history, stunned the hosts with a long-range strike from Strkalj that wrong-footed keeper Hamad Al-Muqbali (14’). 

Da Silva replied with a thunderous effort that struck the crossbar before Tractor were reduced to ten men when Drožđek was sent off for a reckless challenge on Saeed Ezzat (51’). 

Shabab Al Ahli leveled through Da Silva, who pounced on a rebound after Beiranvand saved a strike from fellow Brazilian Yuri César (65’).

Beiranvand then produced a superb save to deny Argentine Federico Cartabia (68’), before César was again denied by the crossbar with a powerful strike (79’).