Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Abu Dhabi: Al Hilal were denied the chance to move to the top of the standings in Group C of the AFC Champions League on Tuesday as Farez Juma’s late equaliser earned Al Jazira a 1-1 draw at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
Juma’s header in the final seconds of the game cancelled out Ailton’s ninth minute opener to ensure the teams shared the points and Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz top the standings at the end of Matchday Three.
“This is the first time that I’m happy with a draw because we suffered a lot throughout the match before scoring a late equaliser,” said Al Jazira coach Henk Ten Cate. “Al Hilal dominated the match but we successfully managed to stop them from scoring.
“The Al Jazira players put in a good performance in the match and they had a solid display. We relied on long balls due to the conditions of the match and we eventually scored from one of these long balls although it was late in the match.”
Al Hilal came out bristling with intent from the first whistle and, with just six minutes on the clock, Ailton fired out a warning to the Al Jazira defence when he headed just over the bar from eight yards out.
Three minutes later, the Brazilian put his side in front, racing towards goal after picking up the ball midway inside the Al Jazira half, finding his way past one defender before holding off another as he fired his low shot under the body of goalkeeper Khalif Al Senaani.
Former Al Hilal midfielder Thiago Neves tried his luck at the other end just two minutes later as Al Jazira responded, only for Al Hilal goalkeeper Khalid Sharahili to push the shot to safety.
That was to prove a rare threat from the home side as Al Hilal continued to dominate. Kwak Tae-hwi hit the post in the 21st minute as the Al Jazira defence struggled to clear a corner while Yasser Al Qahtani’s scissor kick attempt was just off target 10 minute later.
For all their dominance, though, the Saudis struggled to add a second. Al Qahtani’s attempt from the edge of the area was just wide in the 67th minute while Salman Al Faraj thought he had doubled Al Hilal’s lead in the 81st minute, only for his attempt to be ruled out for an offside infringement.
Brazilian defender Diago was then forced to head off his own goal line at the other end as Khalfan Mubarak lifted his attempt towards goal with just over five minutes remaining while Sharahili’s reflex save kept out Kenwyne Jones’ effort seconds later.
Al Jazira continued to pile on the pressure and, four minutes into stoppage time, it finally paid off when Juma headed Sultan Al Suwaidi’s desperate thump forward across Sharahili and into the bottom corner to send the home fans into raptures.
“I’m really disappointed with the result and the performance of some players,” said Al Hilal coach Georgios Donis. “Al Jazira played with great fighting spirit and this is what we missed tonight, especially because we dominated the match in the first half.
“We were the better side in everything and we should have won due to the chances that we created but we failed to score. From all the teams in the group, we are the better side and we should finish on top of it.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports