Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A brace of goals by Nassir Al Shamrani and another by Thiago Neves in a nine-minute spell saw Al Hilal register an authoritative 3-0 win over 10-man Al Ain in the Asian Champions League semifinals first leg at the King Fahd International Stadium on Tuesday.


Al Shamrani scored in the 61st and 64th minutes before Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa was given the marching orders for a challenge on Nawaf Al Abid. Neves missed the resulting penalty but later made sure to score in the 70th.


Both side created few chances in the first half and the action was limited to midfield dual.

Al Hilal did come close to scoring just before the breather when Neves found the crossbar off a corner kick and Al Shamrani played give and take with the Brazilian on the edge of the box before sending his effort against the right post.

Al Hilal showed far more purpose after the change of ends. Their star striker Al Shamrani after gathering the ball from the left brushed aside the challenge of Ismail Ahmed before launching a fierce shot that found the underside of the crossbar before settling in to goal leaving Al Ain custodian Eisa rooted.

Three minutes later Al Hilal struck through a counter after Neves set Abdulla Zori with a fine through and as Eisa gave the charge to cut down the angle, the ball was crossed into six-yard box where Al Shamrani slid in to score his ninth goal of the tournament.

Minutes later, Al Abid was sent clear and upended by Eisa and referee had no hesitation in showing him the red card. Eisa replacement Dawoud Sulaiman, however, thwarted the danger with an excellent save to deny Neves from the spot.
Neves, however, did not take long to compensate for the missed opportunity as he slotting past Sulaiman from close range after being fed by Al Shamrani.

Despite the crushing victory Al Hilal coach Laurentiu Reghecampf warned the players from being complacent going into the return leg and wanted his wards to remain focused.

“We are happy with the result as we scored three goals but this doesn't mean that we are in the final. In football a lot of things happen and hopefully we can repeat the good performance that we had tonight in the second leg,” said the Romanian after his sides win in front of 70,000 strong supporters.

“We had a good match as the performance improved in the second period and this means that our team is prepared well. Al Ain had a good start in the first half but we knew how to deal with them and to take advantage from the chances that we had,” added Reghecampf.