Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Riyadh: Al Hilal advanced to the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League for a seventh consecutive time as a goal by Nassir Al Shamrani in first-half stoppage time gave the Saudi club a 1-0 win over Iranian side Sepahan at the King Fahad International Stadium on Tuesday.
Al Shamrani rifled a shot into the bottom corner of the net after beating the Sepahan offside trap to secure the points for the home side which sent them to the top of Group D.
For all of their endeavour, Sepahan rarely threatened an equaliser which would have seen them through to the last 16 at the expense of the Al Hilal. As a result, they finished bottom of the group and missed the knockout stage for a second straight season.
The positions had been reversed at the start of play with Sepahan in second place and Al Hilal in third and needing a victory to go through.
While they had the backing of a large crowd in Riyadh, Al Hilal laboured in the first half to break down the Sepahan defence despite the return of Al Shamrani and captain Yasser Al Qahtani from suspension.
It appeared that the two teams would go into the interval still deadlocked until Saud Khariri spotted Al Shamrani lurking unmarked on the right of the Sepahan box and lofted the ball towards the striker who just managed to stay onside.
He chested the ball down and rifled a low shot across goalkeeper Shahab Gordan into the far corner of the net.
It was the first goal that Gordan had conceded in his three appearances in this season’s tournament but he was very nearly beaten again right at the start of the second half when an unattended Salem Al Dawsari rattled the upright with a shot from a narrow angle.
That miss would not prove too costly however as Sepahan were unable to muster a response as they were eliminated from the competition.
Al Hilal, meanwhile, can turn their attention to a last 16 clash with either El Jaish of Qatar or Uzbek champions Bunyodkor next month.