Al-Hilal ends AFC CL final first leg with draw

CAIRO – 18 November 2017: Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal ended the first leg of the AFC Champions League final against Japanese team Urawa with a 1-1 draw on Saturday in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh.

Al-Hilal entered the game with a massive attacking line, consisting of Omar Khribin, Salem Al Dawsari, Salman El Farag and Carlos Eduardo. However, Urawa surprised them only six minutes into the start, when Rafael Silva opened the scoring for the Japanese team.

Silva received the ball in the midfield and Mohamed el-Breik made a cross in Al-Hilal’s area. Al-Hilal defenders failed to clear the ball out of their area and the ball returned back to Silva, who put it in the net.

Al-Hilal’s Brazilian striker, Carlos Eduardo, was forced to leave the pitch ten minutes later for a serious knee injury and Nawaf El Abed took his place.

Al-Hilal had many chances to score, and Omar Khribin finally succeeded to score Al Hilal’s only goal in the game minutes before the first half whistle.

In the second half, both teams tried to score the winning goal, but both goalkeepers saved their nets from all attacks until the game ended 1-1.

The second leg is scheduled to be played in Japan on November 25.