Saudi’s Al Hilal beat Al Rayyan; Gharafa too lose

PICTURE PERFECT: Musa Haroon (L) of Qatar’s Al Rayyan fights for the ball with Saad al-Harthi of Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal during their AFC Champions League soccer match at the Al Rayyan Stadium here yesterday. (Reuters)

Agencies/Doha Al Hilal moved into the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League yesterday, defeating hosts Al Rayyan 2-0 thanks to an own goal by Mohamed al-Aaeldin and a diving header from Saad al-Harthi to edge out Al Ain in Group D and move into the knockout phase.The win moved Al Hilal onto 12 points from their six group matches and leaves them a point behind Iranian side Esteghlal, who win the group with Al Hilal in second place and inaugural AFC Champions League champions Al Ain missing out.In a game of few chances, Al Hilal had to wait until 12 minutes from time before opening the scoring when al-Aaeldin diverted the ball into his own net after goalkeeper Oumar Barry had saved Nawaf al-Abid’s close range effort. And five minutes later, al-Harthi doubled Al Hilal’s advantage when he slid in face first to head home Nawaf al-Abid’s cross from the left beyond Barry. Al Hilal’s Brazilian striker Wesley (Wesley Lopez da Silva) should have given his side the lead late in the first half but failed to convert from the penalty spot, thumping his effort from 12 yards off the crossbar.Earlier in the game Alvaro Fernandez forced a sharp save out of Al Hilal goalkeeper Abdullah al-Sdairy while at the other end al-Abid’s long range attempt was straight at Barry.With time running out in what had been a lacklustre half, Yasir al-Shahrani crossed from the right and, although goalkeeper Barry dealt with Wesley’s header, referee Minoru Tojo pointed to the spot after Abdulrahman Mesbeh was adjudged to have handled the ball. Wesley stepped up to take the spot-kick himself but, having elected to go for power over placement, he rattled the crossbar with a shot that saw the ball bounce back over his head and to safety. That looked like being Al Hilal’s best chance to take the points but, with just 12 minutes remaining, the Saudis finally went in front. Al-Harthi cut the ball in from the left to Wesley, whose pass found al-Abid and, although Barry saved the initial shot, the ball ricocheted off al-Aaeldin and over the line.Five minutes later, the two-time Asian champions doubled their lead and made sure of taking all three points when al-Abid crossed from the left and al-Harthi threw himself at the ball, turning it beyond Barry and into the goal from a tight angle.Elsewhere: Sepahan ended their 2013 AFC Champions League campaign on a positive note as goals by Amid Jahanalian, Mohammad Gholami and Mohammad Reza Khalatbari led the three-time Iranian champions to a 3-1 victory over Al Gharafa of Qatar. Jahanalian’s early strike was cancelled out by Majdi Siddiq’s magnificent free-kick just before half-time. But Gholami and Khalatbari both found the net early in the second half to give the Iranian side all three points at the Foolad Shahr Stadium.The result had little effect on the final outcome of Group C as Sepahan finished a point behind second-placed Al Gharafa to bow out at the group stage for the first time since 2010.Having seen his side secure the spot in the last 16 with a game to spare, Al Gharafa coach Habib Sadek fielded a much changed line-up from his team’s previous matches with six players starting a match for the first time in this season’s competition.One of the newcomers, defender Ali Bazmandegan, was culpable for the opening goal in the 11th minute as he completely misread the flight of Omid Ebrahimi’s long pass to Jahanalian which allowed the Sepahan player to peel off into space and line up a volley that flew past goalkeeper Abdulaziz Ali. The Iranian side should have extended their advantage just a minute later as another long ball picked out Radomir Dalovic on the edge of the box but the Montenegrin forward sent his effort narrowly wide.Sepahan went close again in the 20th minute when Ahmad Jamshidian saw his effort cleared off the line by Mohamed Sayyar and that miss looked costly when Al Gharafa got back on terms just a minute before half-time. Having been on the back foot for much of the half, the visitors were awarded a free-kick 25 metres from goal and Siddiq stepped up to send the ball unerringly into the top left corner of the net with goalkeeper Shahab Gordan rooted to the spot.Coming so close to the interval, the goal could have completely deflated the hosts but they came out strongly at the start of the second half and regained the lead just two minutes after the restart when Gholami met Mohsen Irannejad’s cross from the left with a bullet diving header that found the bottom corner of the net.