Al Hilal SFC reached the AFC Champions League 2023-’24 semi-finals after a 2-0 win over Al Ittihad in the second leg of the quarter-finals at King Abdullah Sports City on Tuesday, setting a new world record of 28 consecutive wins in the process.
Runners-up in the previous edition, Al Hilal had also beaten their countrymen 2-0 in the first leg in Riyadh a week earlier and will now face UAE’s Al Ain in the next round for a place in the final.
Al Ittihad had the brighter start of the two, taking the game to their opponents and nearly went in front within three minutes of kick-off when Fabinho delivered a chipped pass into the box for Romarinho who controlled and looked to apply the finish, but his attempt was smothered by goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais.
Coach Marcelo Gallardo’s side suffered an early blow at the quarter-hour mark with midfield anchorman Fabinho being forced off with an injury, to be replaced by Sultan Al Farhan. Al Ittihad would not be deterred, however, and two minutes later they went close again when Romarinho picked up the ball just outside the area and aimed for the bottom corner, instead hitting the upright.
The hosts continued to push for an opener and nearly got what they were looking for inside two minutes after the restart as Abderazzak Hamdallah supplied a through pass for the onrushing Marwan Al Sahafi who accelerated into the box and drilled a shot that required Al Owais to be fully alert to parry it away.
he Saudi international goalkeeper needed to be at his best when called upon again minutes later. Youngster Ahmed Al Ghamdi rifled an effort from 30 yards out which seemed destined for the top corner, but Al Owais produced a flying save to deny him.
Against the run of play, it was Al Hilal who broke the deadlock just after the hour mark. Left-back Yasser Al Shahrani embarked on an adventurous run down the flank, feeding Salem Al Dawsari who in turn found Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and the Serbian returned the ball to the man who started the attack,
Al Shahrani, who had made his way into the box, confidently slotted home with his right for the goal that gave Al Hilal a three-goal aggregate lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Al Ittihad when Hamdallah received a straight red card following an altercation with Ali Al Bulayhi who was booked for the initial challenge on the Moroccan.
Al Hilal’s victory was sealed deep into added time when Aleksandar Mitrovic found Malcom with a fine defence-splitting pass and the Brazilian kept his composure to finish past Abdullah Al Mayouf to make it 2-0 on the night.
Awaiting Al Hilal in the penultimate stage of the competition is a date with Al Ain and head coach Hernan Crespo for the second year running, having beaten his Al Duhail side 7-0 in the 2022 semi-finals before the Argentine tactician swapped Qatar for the UAE over the summer.