Al Sadd suffered a second consecutive defeat in the AFC Champions League Elite after going down 2-0 to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal yesterday.
Ollie Watkins put Al Hilal ahead in the first half before Ruben Neves converted a penalty to seal the victory and secure the Saudi side’s second successive win.
The match got off to a lively start at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium as Al Hilal seized the initiative, with Gabriel Martinelli seeing his rushed effort from inside the box blocked following a sweeping counter-attacking move in the sixth minute.
The four-time Asian champions came close a minute later when Mohamed Kanno rose highest to meet Neves’ cross with a powerful header, only for Meshaal Barsham to parry clear with a fine low save.
Al Sadd responded through Agustin Soria, whose deflected drive from distance was turned behind by Yassine Bounou in the 11th minute, while Sultan Mandash’s low effort had Barsham at full stretch at the other end a minute later.
The home side were denied the lead in the 33rd minute when Akram Afif played the ball through for Mohammad al-Manai inside the box, but his effort from an acute angle struck the left post.
Al Hilal’s persistence paid off in the 40th minute when Watkins, who despite being nudged to the ground by Soria inside the box, improvised and squeezed the ball past a sprawling Barsham.
The Saudi Arabian side continued to threaten after the break, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic firing wide in the 46th minute, before Al Sadd’s Claudinho saw his effort blocked three minutes later after being picked out by Afif.
Watkins came close in the 61st minute when Martinelli fed the former Aston Villa forward through on goal with only Barsham to beat but Paulo Otavio slid across to block the shot, inadvertently handling the ball and conceding a penalty after a VAR review.
Neves made no mistake from the spot, sending Barsham the wrong way as he planted a powerful shot into the top left corner, before the Al Sadd custodian limped off injured and was replaced by Saad Al Sheeb.
Al Sadd almost reduced the deficit in the 77th minute when Roberto Firmino squeezed a shot past Bounou from a tight angle, only for Kalidou Koulibaly to clear the ball on the line as Al Hilal comfortably saw out the win.
