Asian Champions: Al-Bulaihi’s header saves Al-Hilal from the initial stumble
Ali Al-Bulaihi saved his Saudi team, Al-Hilal, from an unexpected loss to its guest, Nafbakhor, Uzbekistan, after scoring the equalizer 5 minutes before the end of stoppage time in the first round of the group stage of the AFC Champions League.
In the same group, Iran’s Nesajji beat India’s Mumbai 2-0 to top the team standings at the start of the tournament.
Al Hilal disappointed its fans and supporters after recording a negative start in the journey to regain the title that it lost last season to Urawa of Japan, opening the new version of the continental championship with a frustrating draw against a team that is less capable than it.
Al Hilal imposed its control over the course of the match and tightened its grip on the keys of play, but all of this seemed negative without any significant positive touches.
Serbian Mitrovic, the Al Hilal striker, started completely isolated from the rest of the players and was surrounded by the players of the Uzbek team. The Al Hilal scorer appeared only slightly, and one of his shots in which he appeared in the 96th minute was in a shot that almost brought his team back into the atmosphere of the match after he received a cross ball and shot it directly towards the goal, but the Uzbek goalkeeper He was fully alert and turned to a blue corner.
Al-Hilal received an unexpected blow after Tabatadze launched a rebound at the beginning of the second half of the match, surprising Al-Hilal goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais and scoring a goal for the visiting team in the 52nd minute.
Al-Hilal tried to adjust the result, but did not succeed in doing so, and their net almost conceded another goal, but this time, Al-Owais had the Uzbek ball as a target, and kept his team’s hopes, Al-Hilal, at bay.
Al-Hilal launched a torrent of attempts and scored a number of corner kicks since the beginning of the confrontation that was held at King Fahd International Stadium in the capital, Riyadh, but Al-Hilal, which scored 6 goals in its match that preceded the match with Uzbekistan’s Nafbakhor, was unable to score except for the header of defender Ali Al-Bulaihi in the ninth minute of the match. Overtime.
Al Hilal emerged with one point from the match in a match that witnessed the presence of its Brazilian star, Neymar, from the beginning of the match. However, Al Hilal emerged frustrated, which will put it under pressure to compensate in the next round, in which it will head to Iran to face Nessaji of Iran on the third of next October.
In another match, Al-Sadd of Qatar settled for a goalless draw with its guest, Al-Sharjah of the Emirates, after Baghdad Bounedjah missed a penalty kick for the landowner.
Nasaf, representing Uzbekistan, leads the second group after its 1-0 victory over its host, Al-Faisaly of Jordan, with a goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
