Odion Ighalo made a triumphant start in the blue of Al Hilal by helping send his new team through to face Chelsea in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
The Nigeria striker, who was on loan with Manchester United a little over a year ago, was on the scoresheet on debut as Hilal beat Al Jazira 6-1 at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium.
The side from Riyadh will now face the champions of Europe in the tournament’s second semifinal at the same venue on Wednesday night.
Hilal may be reigning champions of Asia – and, indeed, four-time winners of that title – but Jazira showed little respect for that status as they flew out of the blocks. The home team had far the brighter of the early exchanges.
They might have gone ahead in the second minute but Victor Sa, their Brazilian striker, was bravely blocked at close range by Abdullah Al Mayouf, the Hilal captain and goalkeeper.
Al Mayouf was Sa’s nemesis a number of times in the opening phase. He denied him again midway through the half, a double save after Sa had been through one-on-one. From the ensuing corner, Moroccan full back Mohammed Rabii headed inches past the post.
By that point, Jazira were already ahead and pushing to double their advantage. Abdoulay Diaby, the livewire attacker from Mali, scored the opener when he turned in an inch-perfect right-wing cross by Rabii.
Despite the joy Jazira were having going forward in attack, Hilal were beginning the bring their class to bear going the other way.
Ali Khaseif, Jazira’s goalkeeper whose career had one of its great highlights when he went up against Real Madrid’s galacticos in this competition in 2017, saved well from Salem Al Dawsari and Moussa Marega.
But unlike when he was up against Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Co four years ago, Khaseif was unable to repel the opposition for long this time around.
It took Ighalo 36 minutes to open his account for his new club, whom he joined from city rivals Al Shabab last month. The former Watford striker headed in from close range after Mohammed Kanno’s cross had looped up off Khaseif.
Matheus Pereira, who had been instrumental in the build up to the equaliser, then put the Saudi side into the lead when he curved a shot past a despairing Khaseif.
Although at 2-1 down Jazira were hardly out of the game, by the interval it felt as though the momentum was entirely with Hilal.
Ten minutes after the restart, Ahmed Al Hashmi, the Jazira striker, had what was realistically the UAE’s last chance to turn the tide. But he turned his shot wide when it seemed easier to score from a left-wing cross by Abdullah Idrees.
Predictably, the home team were made to pay almost immediately after, when Kanno headed Hilal to a two-goal cushion from a corner.
Ighalo was replaced with 16 minutes left, and received a rousing ovation for his contribution. Even though his evening’s work amounted to not much more than that one header for his goal, it was appreciated by the Hilal faithful, who made up the majority of the 12,538 crowd.
The fact they were able to withdraw their big new signing spoke of how easy the Saudi side were finding thing by that stage, and shortly after they notched a fourth when Al Dawsari waltzed through to score.
Marega, the barrel-chested Mali forward who was able to assume his preferred central position once Ighalo was taken off, struck a fifth with two minutes of normal time remaining.
Andre Carillo, the Peruvian striker, who was on as a substitute, added the final indignity when he rolled in a penalty in injury time.
