There were no such worries for Al Hilal SFC - Al Sadd's 2019 AFC Champions League semi-final opponents - as they continued their superb start to the Saudi Pro League with a 4-1 win over Al Ettifaq to stay top of the standings.

Defending UAE Pro League champions Sharjah also maintained their perfect start to the season. the-AFC.com reviews the domestic action across West Asia.

Game-changers, sensational strikes and the 12th man as the 2019 semi-finals got under way in exciting style with rollercoaster matches in Qatar and Japan. Here's the post-match reaction from some of the key men involved.

Al Hilal found themselves behind after 15 minutes when Bafétimbi Gomis scored an own goal, but the French forward subsequently netted a goal in each half to help his side record a comfortable victory against an Al Sadd outfit who had Abdulkarim Hassan sent off in the first half.

The Qatari champions surrendered an early lead to concede twice in each half, suffering their first home defeat of the campaign and leaving them in need of a four-goal winning margin if they are to better last year’s semi-final exit.

The night started brightly for the hosts as they dominated the early proceedings and struck first 14 minutes into the game, but a defensive mistake allowed Al Hilal a way back into the match and Al Sadd capitulated after being reduced to 10 men, allowing their visitors to reign.

Al Ahed are in AFC Cup final for the first time and the 42-year-old Marmar said that his side will put their full focus on lifting the Continental trophy.

Ahmed Akaichi's 32nd minute goal on Tuesday proved to be the difference over 180 minutes as Al Ahed advanced to the AFC Cup final 1-0 on aggregate.

Elsewhere, Tajikistan champions FC Istiklol suffered a first league defeat, while the race to avoid relegation became more perilous for Uzbekistan’s Dinamo Samarkand, who fell to the bottom of the table after yet another defeat.

Join the-AFC.com as we cover all the key results from Istaravshan to Issyk-Kul and beyond.

The majority of the leagues in East Asia did not see action over the weekend, but there was plenty to savour in the Japanese and Korean domestic ties, so join the-AFC.com as we review the latest rounds of fixtures in East Asia.