Advantage Ahli after Saudi side beat Rayyan in first leg

Al Ahli Saudi took a huge step towards the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite after defeating Al Rayyan 3-1 in their last 16 first leg tie at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday.
The Saudi Arabian side led through goals from Galeno and Riyad Mahrez with Roger Guedes pulling one back for Qatar’s Al Rayyan but substitute Firas al-Brikan netted the third in stoppage time to give Al Ahli a healthy advantage to take home to Jeddah for next week’s return leg.
The home side were the first to have a look at goal in the seventh minute with Abdulaziz Hatem finding space in the centre, only to pull his effort from distance wide.
Al Ahli almost unlocked Al Rayyan’s defence two minutes later when Vega threaded a dangerous ball in for Mahrez, but Al Rayyan goalkeeper Paulo Victor foiled the Algerian.
Al Rayyan came under pressure in the 12th minute when Victor blocked Ivan Toney’s close range effort off Ali Majrashi’s cross, before Andre Amaro headed away Galeno’s attempt off the deflection.
The Qatar side wasted a chance to take the lead in the 23rd minute when Al Ahli custodian Edouard Mendy came off his line to clear the initial danger with Thiago Mendes then sending his effort agonisingly wide.
Mendy had to be on his toes again five minutes later when he parried away Roger Guedes’ stinging shot from inside the box before Al Ahli swung into action to take the lead in the 30th minute. Roberto Firmino floated the ball into the six yard box, with Galeno, rising highest to nod home into the top right corner.
Disaster struck Al Rayyan four minutes later when goalkeeper Victor handled a back from Ameed Mahajneh in a goalmouth scramble, with Riyad Mahrez thumping his free-kick from inside the area into the top corner. Firmino almost extended Al Ahli’s lead in the 58th minute but his shot from distance was saved by Victor, who denied the Brazilian again moments later from a tight angle.
Al Ahli opted to protect their lead with sporadic attacks, allowing Al Rayyan more of the ball but without much luck in front of goal. Al Ahli thought they had restored their two-goal advantage 10 minutes later when Gabri Veiga struck off a rebound from a set-piece situation but his effort was ruled out following a VAR review.
Guedes came close to equalising in stoppage time when he received the ball inside the box, only to be stopped by the bar but Al Ahli squashed any hope of a revival with Al Brikan finishing off Galeno’s layoff following a counter-attacking move in the fifth minute of time added on. It got worse for Al Rayyan as Adam Bareiro was sent off for a lunge on Fahad al-Rashidi as they ended the match on a sour note and a mountain to climb in the return leg.
Al Hilal lose in Uzbekistan
Meanwhile, Saudi giants Al Hilal suffered their first defeat in this season’s Asian Champions League Elite, losing 1-0 at Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Al Hilal, the record four-time winners, had qualified for the knockout stage as the top team in the West region, recording seven victories and a draw from their eight group matches.
However, the Riyadh team were outdone by hosts Pakhtakor in freezing conditions in Tashkent. The Uzbek side, who sealed a place in the last 16 in the final round of group games, took a deserved lead at JAR Stadium moments before the half-hour mark, when Brazilian Flamarion finished past Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Semi-finalists last year, Al Hilal looked to hit back but could not find a way through. They were without Serbian international Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has been missing through injury since the first week of January.
Al Hilal, last champions in 2021, will hope to use home advantage to help overturn the deficit when the two teams meet in Riyadh in seven days’ time.
Earlier, last year’s runners-up Yokohama F-Marinos squeezed past Shanghai Port 1-0 away in their first leg. Brazilian forward Anderson Lopes netted the winner against the Chinese Super League champions. Buriram United were held to a goalless draw in Thailand by Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim.