By Mohammed Al-Kinani and agencies
JEDDAH – After a disappointing opening day of the AFC Champions League, Saudi Arabian clubs redeemed some lost prestige when national champion Al-
Hilal thumped hosts Al-Sadd of Qatar 3-0 in Group D and Al-Shabab shared two goals with Sepahan of Iran in Group C at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Al-Ittihad was routed 3-0 by big-spending Uzbek club Bunyodkor in an away match and Al-Ahli missed a penalty on way to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Iranian side Esteghlal in Jeddah.
With one point each, Shabab and Sepahan share the second position in Group C after Pakhtakor Tashkent of Uzbekistan collected three points through a 1-0 victory over Al-Ain of the UAE.
Yasser Al-Qahtani scored twice for Al-Hilal. He headed in a cross from Thiago Neves, and then volleyed in another one in the 66th. Neves’ last-minute goal made sure the trip home to Saudi Arabia was much more comfortable.
In the other Group D match, Iran’s Mes Kerman thrashed Emirates visitor Al-Ahli 4-2.
Defender Seyed Hosseini put Sepahan in the lead before striker Faisal Al-Sultan of Shabab leveled the score.
Sepahan started pressing on its hosts and succeeded to dominate the first half. The Iranians scored an early goal through Hosseini who took advantage of a ball that bounced from Shabab keeper Waleed Abdullah. Hosseini’s flying header landed in the net.
Ali Otaif of Shabab entered the box in the 30th minute and shot but the Iranian goalkeeper Rahmati was in the right place to avert danger. Rahmati again stood in the way of Flavio.
In the 41st minute, Shabab keeper Abdullah saved his goal from Emad Mohammed.
On resumption Shabab coach replaced left defender Abdullah Al-Astaa with striker Naji Majrashi.
This replacement helped the team improve and press on. The unmarked Al-Sultan received a cross outside the area in the 69th minute. The striker controlled the ball and fired into the right corner of the Iranian goalkeeper. The goal encouraged the host team to launch more attacks but the Iranian defenders stood firm.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Pohang Steelers lost its first game as defending champion beaten 1-0 at Australia’s Adelaide United.
Breaking from the halfway line following a Pohang corner, Adelaide teenage striker Matthew Leckie pressured Park Hee-chul to stab the ball past the latter’s goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time. Leckie was credited with the goal by match officials, as the ball possibly deflected off him last.
The champ two years ago, Gamba Osaka packed the midfield to stifle host Suwon Bluewings in a goal-less draw. The other Group G match was also a goalless draw, as Henan Construction of China dominated Singapore Armed Forces without any luck.
Besides Adelaide in Group H, China’s Shandong Luneng also emerged a winner from a valuable 1-0 win at Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
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