Ahli on verge of ACL final berth

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Ahli on verge of ACL final berth
Al Hilal's Ailton Jose Almeida (left) vies for the ball with Al Ahli players Majed Hassan (centre) and Salmin Khamis during their AFC Champions League semifinal in Riyadh.

Dubai - Red Knights hold Al Hilal in semis first-leg

By Hisham Al Gizouli

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Published: Thu 1 Oct 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Fri 2 Oct 2015, 2:08 PM

 Al Ahli knocked on the doors of a dream final following their tough fought out 1-1 draw against hosts Al Hilal in the semifinal of the 2015 AFC Champions League at the King Fahad Stadium in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday night.
Al Ahli Brazilian striker Lima put the Dubai-based club ahead in the 57th minute and Al Hilal's Ailton scored with a similar fine header eight minutes from time to cancel the early advantage of the visitors.
But, while Al Ahli's Romanian coach Cosmin Olaroiu is still uncertain that it's all over for the Saudi giants before the second leg which will be played at Al Ahli's strong hold Rashid Stadium in Dubai, he seemed extremely excited with what was termed as an achievement, "Both sides are still in with a chance to advance to the final," he said.
"We will not go into the second leg thinking of a goalless draw because we could lose. Our opponents are not easy at all," said the Romanian.
"The result is positive, but it is not enough to qualify as we must start working and preparing for the second leg. We hope that we can take advantage of playing the second match at home in order to qualify to the final.
"We knew the match would not be easy and Al Hilal is a big team and we struggled to control all of the proceedings," said Olaroiu. "We managed to put some pressure on our opponents and we shared possession with them.
"The fans of Al Hilal put on a great atmosphere and we are glad that we got away with a positive result from the match. To score away from home is of great help in the home and away format," he added.
Al Ain have won the inaugural edition of this rebranded competition in 2002 before losing to Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in the semis in 2005, and Al Ahli players are looking forward to break the jinx of the semifinals with Saudi clubs and emulate the Purple squad in reaching the final and winning the title.
Meanwhile, Al Hilal had the chance to level the result ten minutes after Al Ahli's goal from the penalty spot when Carlos Eduardo was given the opportunity to score after Salmin Khamis picked the ball up in the penalty area having thought it had crossed the line and gone out of play.
But, Carlos Eduardo's penalty clipped the outside of the post before bouncing clear. In the 82nd minute Ailton did it the right way and restored hope for the Saudi giants.
"We had a bad performance in the first half and this was the first match in months that we struggled to build our attacks," said Al Hilal Greek coach Gioros Donis. "We struggled in the first half and we made several wrong decisions.
"Things improved in the second period as our performance was better despite conceding a goal from one clear attack while we missed several scoring chances including the penalty kick which was a clear chance for us," he noted.


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