Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Riyadh: Al Hilal coach Georgios Donis was left to lament a disappointing first-half showing and a missed penalty from Carlos Eduardo as the Saudi Arabian club were held to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday in the first leg of the semi-final of the AFC Champions League by Al Ahli.
Playing at a packed out King Fahd International Stadium in front of their own fans, Brazilian striker Ailton scored with a fine header eight minutes from time to secure a share of the spoils for last season’s beaten finalists.
But a tense first half was followed by a disappointing start to the second period when Carlos Eduardo’s missed penalty in the 67th minute should have cancelled out Lima’s opener for Al Ahli.
ACL SF 1st Leg: Al Hilal 1-1 Al Ahli
“We had a bad performance in the first half and this was the first match in months that we struggled to build our attacks,” said the Greek coach (pictuerd).
“We struggled in the first half and we made several wrong decisions.
“Things improved in the second period as our performance was better despite conceding a goal from one clear attack while we missed several scoring chances include the penalty kick which was a clear chance for us.”
Both teams cancelled one another out in the opening 45 minutes with neither side able to claim supremacy before Lima scored his third goal in three AFC Champions League matches since joining Al Ahli with a perfectly directed header.
Carlos Eduardo should have levelled the scores when he stepped up to take a penalty awarded after Salmin Khamis picked up the ball after thinking it had gone out of play, but his effort clipped the outside of the post.
Ailton, however, headed home in the 82nd minute – from a corner delivered by Carlos Eduardo – to send the home fans into raptures and leave the tie tentatively poised ahead of the second leg on October 20.
Despite the club’s recent performances – Al Hilal have also won their opening two games in the Saudi league – Donis continues to be questioned over his tactical approach, but he insists he has no intention to change.
“Our formation is 3-5-2 and this is the way that we play,” he said. “I believe that this formation is good for us and when I see we can change it, I will do just like we did tonight when Nassir Al Shamrani came on.”
Photo: WSG