Al- Hilal Secures AFC Champions League Semi- Final Spot
Al Hilal defeated Al Ittihad 2-0 in the second leg of the quarterfinals at King Abdullah Sports City on Tuesday, advancing them to the AFC Champions League 2023–24 semi-finals.
The Saudi Arabian football team Al Hilal set a world record for a top-tier team by winning 28 successive games.
As the runners-up from the previous season, Al Hilal had already shown their mettle by winning the first leg 2-0 in Riyadh, paving the way for a much-anticipated matchup with UAE’s Al Ain for a shot at the championship.
Al-Ittihad made a strong first impression by tenaciously chasing an early lead. During the opening minutes, Fabinho deftly moved the ball to Romarinho, but the shot was expertly deflected by Mohammed Al Owais. Al Ittihad persevered despite an early setback brought on by Fabinho’s injury, almost losing another scoring opportunity as Romarinho’s effort struck the post.
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Throughout the second half, Al Ittihad’s tenacity was evident as Marwan Al Sahafi and Ahmed Al Ghamdi forced Al Owais to make crucial stops. Al Hilal, however, took the lead against the tide; Yasser Al Shahrani and Sergej Milinković-Savić executed a masterful move that allowed Al Shahrani to score the opening goal and increase Al Hilal’s aggregate advantage to three.
After a disagreement with Ali Al Bulayhi, Hamdallah of Al Ittihad was sent off with a straight red card, which escalated the intensity of the contest. Aleksandar Mitrovic and Malcom combined to score Al Hilal’s second goal of the game in the closing seconds, solidifying their victory and guaranteeing their advancement in the competition.
Al Hilal is now set to play Al Ain in the semifinals. This matchup will be a rematch of last year’s semifinal, in which Crespo’s Al Duhail squad defeated Al Hilal.
Everyone at Al Hilal is delighted to achieve world football history by winning 28 consecutive matches.
This is truly an incredible achievement, and I want to thank everyone at the club for their part in this momentous winning record.” Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus said