ACL MD2 - GROUP C: AL HILAL 4-1 PAKHTAKOR

Igor Sergeev gave the Uzbek side the lead at half time but Abdulla Al Dossary levelled the scores before an own goal by Adnan Orahovoc and a fine finish by Khalid Kaabi ensured the two-time Asian Club Championship winners picked up their first victory of the campaign after a 2-2 draw in Tashkent last week.

Kaabi added a fourth for Al Hilal 12 minutes from time to cap an impressive second-half showing from the 2014 ACL finalists, who had struggled to break down the Pakhtakor defence in a frustrating opening 45 minutes.

“I want to congratulate the players for this win especially after the defeat that we had in the local league,” said Donis, whose side slipped to a 1-0 loss against Al Ittihad at the weekend. “ We were missing several players and the win tonight iwas very important.”

“We have a heavy schedule which is affecting our players with many of them injured. At half time, I asked the players to send the ball to the flanks and our plan worked and we managed to score four goals."

Carlos Eduardo and Mohammed Al Burayk were both well off target with early attempts while Mohammed Al Shalhoub’s 19th minute free kick caused Nikita Ribkin little trouble in the Pakhtakor goal. Another free kick soon after from Eduardo met with a similar fate.

Pakhtakor’s stubborn rearguard meant the Tashkent club would always retain the chance of claiming some reward at the other end of the pitch, and so it turned out in the 31st minute, when the 11-time Uzbek champions took the lead.

Orahovoc claimed possession in midfield before Sherzodbek Karimov received the ball wide on the right, sending in a dipping, curling cross that Sergeev steered past Khalid Sharahili in the Al Hilal goal with a perfectly executed diving header.

Al Hilal continued to struggle to find an answer to Pakhtakor’s defensive conundrum, with Ailton another to miss the target by a considerable margin after his run and shot from range.

The Saudi side’s frustrations would continue for 10 minutes of the second half, with Eduardo and Al Dossary both going close before Al Dossary finally claimed Al Hilal’s long overdue first, heading home after Al Burayk’s cross had taken a telling deflection off the head of Orahovoc.

Orahovoc was involved again just two minutes later, this time diverting Al Dossary’s cross past his own goalkeeper to put Al Hilal in front, while the goal of the night was reserved until the end of the rapid fire triple salvo when Kaabi took one touch to control Al Shalhoub’s inch-perfect pass before sliding his shot under Ribkin.

Kaabi could have added a fourth 17 minutes from time, but Ribkin was equal to the youngster’s downward header before the 23-year-old finally claimed his second of the night when he rolled the ball into an empty net following more impressive work by veteran midfielder Al Shalhoub (pictured left).

“We had a match with two different performances. We had an excellent first half before things changed in the second period and we unfortunately conceded four goals which gave the advantage for Al Hilal,” said Pakhtakor coach Numon Khasanov.

“We defended well in the first period but we lost all of that in the second, which was dominated by Al Hilal. We should forget this result today and start thinking of the next match.”