Ali Al-Bulaihi’s equaliser 10 minutes into stoppage time spared Al-Hilal’s blushes as Neymar made his first begin for the Saudi Pro League aspect in a 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan’s Navbahor within the Asian Champions League in Riyadh on Monday.
Saudi Arabia worldwide defender Al-Bulaihi rose to fulfill Brazilian winger Michael’s centre to cancel out a Toma Tabatadze strike within the 52nd minute of the Group D assembly that had appeared set to earn Samvel Babayan’s aspect an unlikely win.
Neymar, among the many headline arrivals in Saudi Arabia over the summer time, was included within the beginning line-up for the primary time since his 90 million euro ($96 million) transfer from Paris St Germain however was annoyed all through the encounter.
The Brazilian appeared like he would find yourself on the shedding aspect till Al-Bulaihi’s header, which got here throughout greater than 14 minutes of harm time, lastly put an finish to Navbahor’s decided resistance towards their expensively-assembled opponents.
Only the winners of the ten teams within the 40-team competitors are assured to advance to final 16 and Al-Hilal sit behind debutants Nassaji Mazandaran within the early standings.
The Iranians high the group after securing a 2-0 win over India’s Mumbai City in Pune by way of a aim in every half from Ehsan Hosseini and Mohammad Reza Azadi.
There had been no such issues for Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad, who cruised to a 3-0 win in Group C over AGMK from Uzbekistan regardless of coach Nuno Espirito Santo not together with ex-Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema in his squad.
Haroune Camara gave the previous champions the proper begin in Jeddah within the eleventh minute when he slammed house after goalkeeper Botirali Ergashev’s save and Romarinho doubled the lead 4 minutes later with a cool close-range end.
The Brazilian hit the third three minutes earlier than the interval from the penalty spot after Abderazzak Hamdallah had been fouled within the space by Dilshodbek Akhmadaliev.
Al-Ittihad lead the desk after Air Force Club shared a 2-2 draw with Sepahan from Iran, with 19-year-old Ali Jassim scoring twice for the Iraqi aspect in Erbil.
Meanwhile, Nasaf from Uzbekistan secured a late 1-0 win over Jordan’s Al-Faisaly to high Group B forward of Qatar’s Al Sadd and Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates, who shared a 0-0 draw.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
