Englishman Ollie Watkins led his Saudi team, Al Hilal, to victory over its guest, Shabab Al Ahly, UAE, with two unanswered goals, on Tuesday, in the fourth round of the league stage in the AFC Elite Champions League, inflicting on the UAE team its first loss in the tournament.
Al Hilal regained its victorious tone after its loss to Qatar's Al-Shamal in the last round, raising its score to 9 points from 4 matches, and advancing to second place in the Al-Gharb region standings on goal difference, while Shabab Al-Ahly's score froze at 9 points, and fell to fourth place, behind Al-Ain, which leads with the full mark with 12 points.
Al Hilal did not wait long to open the registration; Watkins succeeded in scoring just 6 minutes after the start of the match, benefiting from a distinguished individual effort by Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who penetrated into the penalty area before passing the ball to the English striker, who shot it into the bottom corner of the goal.
Al-Ahly youth tried to return to the atmosphere of confrontation, and the Iranian Sardar Azmoun almost equalized after a pass from his colleague Mohamed Jumaa, but he failed to control the ball, and it easily reached the Moroccan Yassine Bounou, Al Hilal’s goalkeeper.
At the beginning of the second half, Watkins returned to confirm the superiority of the hosts, after receiving a perfect cross pass from Frenchman Theo Hernandez, which he sent from beyond the halfway line, putting the ball with one touch over goalkeeper Matheus Henrique, scoring his second personal goal and his team's second goal.
The Emirati team did not give up; Azmoun was able to score against Al Hilal, but the referee canceled the goal due to offside.
In the 54th minute, Bono excelled in blocking a powerful shot fired by Nemanja Maksimovic from the outskirts of the penalty area, preserving his team’s lead.
After about an hour of play, defender Ali Lagami almost accidentally scored against Al Hilal while trying to clear a cross, but Bono intervened at the right moment and cleared the ball before it crossed the goal line.
Shabab Al-Ahly continued its attempts to reduce the difference during the last minutes, but Al Hilal’s defense and goalkeeper succeeded in keeping the net clean until the final whistle.
With this result, Al Hilal stopped Shabab Al Ahly’s series of victories in the continental championship at 3 consecutive matches, and strengthened its position in the race to qualify for the knockout rounds.
The Portuguese Andre Jardin, coach of the UAE's Al-Ahly youth team, confirmed that his team played a complicated confrontation against Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, pointing out that the mistakes committed by his players were the cause of the loss, in light of the opponent's strength and ability to exploit opportunities.
Garden said, during the press conference after the match: “It was a complicated match against an opponent who has a high level in all aspects, and in such confrontations it is not acceptable to make mistakes, and despite that, it was a beautiful match from both sides.”
Regarding the impact of the changes made by Italian coach Simone Inzaghi, Al Hilal’s coach, in deciding the result in favor of his team, Garden explained: “I do not think that Inzaghi’s changes were for tactical reasons. The first change came out of caution due to one of his players receiving a yellow card, while the second change was the result of injury, and therefore I do not see that these substitutions were linked to changing Al Hilal’s playing style.”
The Portuguese coach indicated that his plan for the confrontation had not undergone fundamental changes, saying: “Nothing has changed in our preparations for this match, and we made some rotations by involving a number of players, but we made some mistakes, and we must admit that we faced a team with a high level.”
In his evaluation of his team’s performance, Garden stressed that offensive effectiveness was the decisive factor in determining the outcome of the match, adding: “Effectiveness is what makes the difference on the field, and perhaps the match could have been more equal between the two teams, but football depends on exploiting opportunities and translating them into goals, and Al Hilal was better than us in this aspect.”
Bilal Youssef, the midfielder for the Emirati team Ajman, confirmed that his team is looking forward to achieving victory over the Saudi Al-Ittifaq, on Wednesday, in the third round of the Gulf Champions League for clubs, and to continue exporting its group.
Youssef said, in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, that Ajman prepared well for the confrontation, despite the difficulty of the task facing a strong competitor playing the match on its home soil and among its fans, stressing the players’ desire to score the three points and maintain the lead.
Regarding Ajman’s ambitions in the Gulf Championship and the extent of its ability to compete for the title, he said: “We certainly want to compete, and it is important that we reach the final rounds first, then think about the next steps, and strive to compete for the title.”
The Ajman player praised the warm reception that the team delegation received since its arrival in Saudi Arabia, and the interest shown by Al-Ettifaq Club in receiving it at its hotel residence, stressing that this hospitality is not surprising from the Saudi brothers.
