Alkass Digital
Al Rayyan celebrated their AFC Champions League™ 2022 Round of 16 qualification by defeating Al Hilal SFC 2-0 in Group A on Wednesday.
Al Rayyan, whose maiden appearance in the knockout stage had been confirmed before a ball was kicked at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, took the lead through an own goal by Jang Hyun-soo before Yohan Boli doubled their advantage in the closing stages of the first half.
Al Rayyan came into the tie knowing that victory by more than three goals against the defending champions would earn them top spot in the group and the Qatari side put early pressure on their opponents.
Ramon Diaz’s side were almost caught napping in the fourth minute when goalkeeper Abdullah Al Muaiouf failed to clear a back pass by Yasser Al Shahrani, resulting in Tameem Mansour forcing the shotstopper into conceding a corner.
That proved to be the turning point as Al Rayyan took the lead a minute later when Al Hilal defender Jang turned in Ahmed Yasser’s header off a corner into his own net.
Al Rayyan, however, had to cut short their celebrations as Al Hilal came back fighting with Odion Ighalo missing his shot from inside the box in the ninth minute, while Gustavo Cuéllar came close with his effort from Salman Al Faraj’s layoff.
While Al Hilal continued to fire blanks despite piling on the pressure, Al Rayyan almost took advantage through a counter-attack in the 26th minute when Steven N'zonzi found space after Boli’s set up, but fired his low drive into the arms of Al Muaiouf.
Ighalo then came close to breaking Al Rayyan’s resistance five minutes later when he found space above the penalty area before laying off for Salem Al Dawsari, who fired his effort above the bar.
As the half-time whistle approached, Al Rayyan captain Yacine Brahimi burst into the area before setting up Boli, who whipped in his side’s second goal of the evening in injury time.
Boli almost got his second goal moments later when Ali Malolah sent a wonderful cross into the box but the Cote d'Ivoire player’s header was denied by the bar in the closing minutes of the half.
Al Rayyan goalkeeper Fahad Younis was kept busy in the second half, saving Abdullah Al Hamdan’s close-range effort in the 71st minute after Salem Al Dawsari’s fine run into the area.
Younis then pulled off a remarkable save three minutes later, denying Al Dawsari’s spot-kick after Moussa Marega was brought down, as Al Rayyan sealed a famous win.