Al Hilal 3 // Al Jazira 1
Al Jazira's hopes of going beyond the group stages in the Asian Champions League took a nosedive after a 3-1 away defeat to the Saudi side Al Hilal in Riyadh.
Yasser al Qahtani set up Ahmed Ali, the Egyptian midfielder, with a superb through ball to open the scoring in the third minute.
The Saudi international turned from provider to scorer 10 minutes later when he charged into the box to connect with a header from a Christian Wilhelmsson cross to double their lead.
Ahmed Jumaa pulled one back when he latched on to a short cross from Abdulla Qasem, who did the hard work to dribble past a couple of Hilal defenders before slipping the ball across goal that kept the game alive until an injury-time strike from Mohammed al Shalhoub sealed the win.
Hilal take their tally to six points; three behind the leaders Sepahan of Iran in Group A. Jazira, who were thrashed 5-1 by Sepahan last week, are left at the bottom with one point along with Al Gharafa of Qatar with three rounds remaining.
Jazira play city rivals Al Wahda, who lost 3-0 to Al Ittihad in their Champions League Group C match, in the President’s Cup on Monday.
