Shabab Al-Ahli defeats Al-Ittihad with an Azmoun brace in the AFC Champions League Elite
Agencies2 min read
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The Emirati team Shabab Al-Ahli achieved a valuable 2-1 victory over their hosts, Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad, on Tuesday at the "Al-Inmaa" stadium in Jeddah, as part of the second round of the league stage of the AFC Champions League Elite football tournament.
With this victory, Shabab Al-Ahli raised their tally to 6 points, joining the leaders in the West region alongside Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal, Qatar's Al-Rayyan, and Iran's Esteghlal, while Al-Ittihad remained at one point, dropping to eleventh place in the standings.
The Emirati team surprised the hosts with an early goal in the seventh minute, when Iranian Sardar Azmoun capitalized on a pass from his teammate Guilherme Bala to put the ball in the net and give his team the lead.
Azmoun struck again in the 16th minute after receiving a precise through ball from Juan Santos, sprinting from midfield to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper before dribbling past him and depositing the ball into the net, scoring his second goal of the match and extending Shabab Al-Ahli's lead to two goals to nil.
Al-Ittihad attempted to get back into the match, taking advantage of their attacking momentum, but Shabab Al-Ahli posed repeated threats through quick counterattacks and nearly extended the lead on more than one occasion.
Mateusao fired a shot from inside the penalty area that went just past the post, before the same player returned with another attempt that was unsuccessful, allowing the Emirati team to maintain their lead at the end of the first half.
In the second half, Shabab Al-Ahli retreated to their defensive zones to protect their lead, which gave Al-Ittihad the opportunity to exert continuous attacking pressure and narrow the gap in the 66th minute, when Colombian Richard Rios unleashed a powerful shot that settled to the left of the goalkeeper, restoring hope for the Saudi team to equalize.
Al-Ittihad intensified their efforts during the remaining minutes in an attempt to level the score, but the Shabab Al-Ahli defense showed resilience in the face of successive attacks and succeeded in maintaining their lead until the final whistle.
With this win, Shabab Al-Ahli achieved an important victory at Al-Ittihad's stadium, continuing their strong start in the continental tournament, while the Saudi team is now required to compensate in the coming rounds to improve their position in the West region standings.
