Victor winner sends Shabab Al Ahli into Asian Champions League semis

UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli needed extra time to defeat Thailand’s Buriram United 3-2 in Jeddah on Saturday as Renan Victor’s 93rd-minute strike ensured the ‌Emirati side completed the semi-final line-up of the Asian Champions League Elite.

Paulo ​Sousa’s team will take on Japan’s Machida Zelvia on Tuesday for ‌a place in the final ‌with defending champions Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia due to meet Vissel Kobe, also from Japan, on Monday.

Victor’s winner came after Shabab Al Ahli had thrown away ‌a two-goal lead given to them by a Peter Zulj own goal and Saeid Ezatolahi’s header four minutes into the second half.

Guilherme Bissoli’s 64th-minute penalty halved the deficit before Zulj hit a 70th-minute equaliser to take the game into extra time.

“In this kind of competition we know all the difficulties we will face on the field and even though we were leading 2-0 ​we knew it was going to be a tough game,” said ‌Victor.

“Of course, we didn’t want to concede those two goals but we made up for what happened and we turned around.”

Shabab Al-Ahli went ahead when Federico Cartabia’s corner was met by Igor Gomes as he outjumped Neil Etheridge and the Brazilian defender’s header came back off the post to cross the line ​via Zulj’s ‌shoulder.

Another Cartabia corner unlocked the Buriram defence for a second time four ‌minutes after the restart, the set piece flicked on by Victor and Ezatolahi’s diving effort beating Etheridge.

Ezatolahi’s handball gave Guilherme Bissoli the opportunity to pull one back ‌from the penalty ‌spot in the 64th minute and the Brazilian converted.

The Thai champions levelled six minutes later as ‌Zulj made amends for his own goal, outmuscling Cartabia to win the ball and steer his left-foot finish into the bottom corner from outside the area.

But Buriram’s positive work was undone ​three minutes into extra time when a defensive mix-up presented Renan with the opportunity to beat Etheridge from close range and the centre back gladly accepted. (Reporting by Michael Church, Editing ​by Ed Osmond)

Meanwhile, Al-Ahli is the sole remaining Saudi Arabian team in the last four of the AFC Champions League Elite and will take on Vissel Kobe of Japan on Monday while Japan’s Machida Zelvia meets Shabab Al-Ahli of the United Arab Emirates with a place in the final at stake.

Al-Ahli, which lifted the trophy for the first time last May, struggled to a 2-1 win over Malaysia’s Johor Darul Tazim on Friday in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian city that is hosting the knockout stage of the tournament.

Ali Majrashi scored an own goal after 19 minutes to put Johor ahead and the Al-Ahli defender was red carded soon after. Just before the break, former Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie leveled.

Nine minutes after the restart, Brazilian winger Galeno scored the winning goal.

“We made it to the next round despite a tight and tough match,” Al-Ahli coach Matias Jaissle said. “Never easy after a red card but the players showed great mentality and discipline with the fans giving us the extra boost.”

Ahli meets Kobe after the Japanese team defeated Qatar’s Al-Sadd in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw.

“I think in this game we deserved to win, but this is football and sometimes you lose when you deserve to win,” Al-Sadd coach Roberto Mancini said. “When I took the team we were out of the AFC Champions League Elite, we were at the bottom of the table. We qualified for the Finals, for this phase, but I can say nothing about the players. I was very proud of them.”

Machida Zelvia, in its first tournament, defeated two-time winner and defending Saudi Pro League champion Al-Ittihad 1-0.

Australian striker Tete Yengi scored the only goal of the game in the 31st minute.

“We were aware we weren’t going to have many chances, so we made the most of our chances and kept a clean sheet,” Machida coach Go Kuroda said. “This is our game and I’m very proud of the team. In football there is a winner and a loser. This time we won but sometimes we lose as well. I think we were lucky today.”

Agencies