If Al Ain are to advance to the Asian Champions League semi-finals after their 2-0 first-leg winover Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, another Saudi side may await.
A powerful Salman Al Faraj strike gave Saudi side Al Hilal a precious 1-0 win over Qataris Al Sadd in the first leg of their Asian Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
The midfielder blasted a left foot shot into the roof of the net from an acute angle in the 71st minute after a neat passing move by the home side.
Al Faraj’s effort lit up an otherwise cagey encounter between the two former champions, with Al Hilal coach Laurentiu Reghecampf expecting better in the return leg in Doha next week.
“We knew that the match would be very hard and there was a lot of pressure on the players following the 5-0 win over Al Sadd during the group stage,” the Romanian told reporters.
“Despite the good result, it is still not decisive as there is still a second match in Doha and we must remain focused if we want to continue in the competition. We should improve our performance in the second leg and I hope that we can get a positive away result.”
Al Sadd, winners of the tournament in 2011, came closest to scoring when winger Nadir Belhadj rattled the crossbar with a long range effort just before Al Faraj’s goal but the Saudis survived the scare to keep a sixth consecutive clean sheet in the competition.
“We didn’t create many scoring chances and this was one of our negative aspects tonight and we should try our best to improve this side of our game,” Al Sadd coach Lhoussaine Ammouta told reporters.
“Al Hilal scored from a defensive mistake and we didn’t know how to stop the same attack from our opponents which eventually resulted in the goal. But at the end of the day, I’m happy with the result and I hope that we can win in the second leg to go through.”
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