Simone Inzaghi, coach of Al Hilal, considered that his team was very excellent as it faced Shabab Al Ahly of the Emirates, which had begun its career in the elite AFC Champions League with “3” consecutive victories, indicating that he sought to continue the approach of rotation among the players in his team.
Al-Hilal succeeded in overcoming Shabab Al-Ahly with a double from Englishman Watkins, to regain its winning streak after losing to Al-Shamal of Qatar in the last round.
Inzaghi said in the press conference: “We were very excellent in the match against a team that achieved victory in its first three matches. We controlled the match and achieved the victory, which is a step forward.”
The Al Hilal coach added: “All the players were excellent, including Sabri Dahl, and after he received the yellow card, I replaced him so that we would not risk him getting the red card. He is a young and promising player and I urge him to make more efforts.”
Inzaghi added in his speech: “The players performed at a wonderful level, and today I sought to rotate some of the players, given the pressure of the matches. Regarding the impact of the absences on his team, Inzaghi said: We had some absences, Ruben Neves, Martinelli, Summerville and Salem, but in general we are happy with the performance, and we are constantly working to improve the part of dealing with set pieces.”
Regarding the technical approach, the Italian coach said: “When we had the ball, we played in a 4-3-3 system, and when the opponent had the ball, we played with three defenders.”
Regarding the readiness of the injured players, Inzaghi concluded his speech: “We hope that Salem Al-Dosari will be available to us after the suspension period, along with the rest of the injured players.”
Englishman Ollie Watkins, the Saudi Al Hilal striker, expressed his happiness with the positive atmosphere within the team, and his satisfaction with his scoring brilliance, after leading Al Hilal to victory over Shabab Al Ahli of the Emirates with two unanswered goals, within the elite AFC Champions League competitions.
Watkins said, during the press conference he held alongside his Italian coach Simone Inzaghi after the match: “Since joining Al Hilal, I have been keen to build good relationships with everyone, whether the coach or my fellow players, as well as the team’s fans.”
Regarding the victory over Shabab Al-Ahly, the English international striker added: “We played an excellent match against a strong competitor, and we succeeded in achieving an important victory, which was accompanied by a beautiful performance before entering the break.”
Watkins had scored two goals for Al Hilal in the confrontation, leading his team to regain its winning streak and return to the top positions in the Al Gharb region standings, after losing to Al Shamal of Qatar in Doha during the previous round.
Saudi Arabia's NEOM inflicted its first loss on its Qatari rival, Al-Duhail, in the Gulf Football Champions League, winning 3-0, on Tuesday, in the third round of the group stage.
NEOM frustrated its opponent with a brace very early, as it took the lead with a goal from its Algerian star, Saeed Benrahma, in the fourth minute, and Abdelmalek Al-Airi added the second goal in the 10th minute.
In the 86th minute, Saeed Benrahma scored his second and his team's third goal.
With this result, NEOM raises its score to 6 points to take the lead in the first group, ahead of Al-Shabab of Oman and Al-Duhail of Qatar, while the Hadhramaut People of Yemen are at the bottom of the rankings without a score.
The Omani youth defeated the Yemeni people of Hadhramaut with a score of 4-0 earlier, on Tuesday.
NEOM had started its campaign in the group with a broad victory over Shaab Hadramaut with a score of 4-0 before losing to Al-Shabab of Oman with a score of 1-3 in the second round.
As for Al-Duhail, they achieved victory in the first two rounds by defeating Al-Shabab of Oman 3-0, and the Hadhramaut people of Yemen by a score of 2-1.
