Andre Carrillo and Bafetimbi Gomis were on target on Monday as Saudi Arabia giants Al Hilal began the defense of their Asian Champions League title with a 2-0 victory over Iran’s Shahr Khodro.
Al Hilal’s superiority was never in doubt, as they controlled proceedings from the start at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
However, Al-Hilal struggled to breach the Shahr Khodro defense, with goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati producing a string of some good saves in their Group B clash.
Just when it appeared that the deadlock would continue into the second half, Shahr Khodro, who are making their Champions League debut, caved in to the pressure.
Italy international Sebastian Giovinco cut in from the left and passed to Salem al-Dawsari, who in turn neatly set up Carrillo, and the Peruvian made no mistake with his half-volley.
Carrillo turned provider in the 69th minute when he received a pass from al-Dawsari inside the penalty box, squared for Gomis and then scored with a simple tap-in.
Shahr Khodro could have pulled one back, but Al-Hilal goalkeeper Abdullah al-Mayouf made a fine save three minutes from time to thwart a powerful shot from Milad Sarlak.
earlier in another Group B match, Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor edged out Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 2-1 in Tashkent.
Jaloliddin Masharipov became the first player to score in the tournament this season, as he put Pakhtakor ahead in the 18th minute with an excellent lob over goalkeeper Majed Naser, after having made considerable ground with the ball.
However, Pedro Conde put Shabab Al Ahli on level terms in the 67th minute after Youssef Jaber’s bicycle-kick was saved by Pakhtakor goalkeeper Eldorbek Suyunov, leaving the Spaniard with a simple shot from close.
However, Shabab Al Ahli could not take advantage of the momentum as Serbian Dragan Ceran restored Pakhtakor’s lead in the 70th minute with a low shot following a right-wing cross by Dostonbek Khamdamov.
Shabab Al Ahli had chances later, but Pakhtakor held on.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as
RSS