ISFAHAN, Iran: Saudi Arabian powerhouse Al Hilal silenced the home crowd with two injury-time goals to beat Iran’s Sepahan FC 3-1 away in the AFC Champions League last 16 on Thursday.
At Isfahan’s sold-out Naghsh-E-Jahan Stadium, the two-time champions made the most of Mohammad Daneshgar’s red card in the 76th minute, piling on attack after attack before eventually breaking through.
In the fourth minute of injury time, Aleksandar Mitrovic rose above defender Rezaeian Semeskandi to reach Saud Abdulhamid’s cross and head home.
Three minutes later, Abdullah Al Hamdan took advantage of a pass from Salem Al Dawsari to score the third goal.
Sepahan took the lead in the 37th minute from a counterattack when Ramin Rezaeian latched on to Daneshgar’s pass and slotted the ball past the advancing Yassine Bounou.
Hilal equalized in the 57th minute when Sepahan goalkeeper Payam Niazmand parried Mitrovic’s effort into the path of Malcolm, who cleared the ball away.
In the 82nd minute, Hilal Mohammed Al Burayk’s brilliant cross from the left found a lonely Sergej Milinkovic-Savic on the right side of the post, but his header narrowly missed.
Two-time champions Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad were held to a goalless draw by Uzbekistan’s Navbahor in Namangan.
At the Markazi Al Ittihad Stadium, they missed several chances, including at least three in the first 15 minutes.
But they will have the advantage of playing at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah next Thursday in the second leg.
Currently third in the Saudi Pro League, Al Ittihad were without star striker Karim Benzema, who coach Marcelo Gallardo appears to have ruled out due to lack of fitness.
South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai, also two-time winners of the tournament, secured a comfortable 3-0 win against visiting Ventforet Kofu.
Joo Min-kyu opened the scoring for the Korean side in the 37th minute of the game before converting a penalty into a goal just before the break when Kim Min-woo brought down Kaito Kamiya.
Full-back Seol Young-woo’s goal in the 61st minute confirmed the result and set up a tough home trip in Tokyo for the Japanese side.
