Home side enjoy majority of possession but fail to convert

The Riyadh giants were held to a 1-1 draw against Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds in front of 60,000 fans at the King Fahd International Stadium. They were stunned after just seven minutes as Rafael Silva swept home on the rebound following Salman Al-Faraj’s failure to clear the Brazilian’s initial effort properly.

“We had a slow start to the game, and conceded an unexpected goal, but I was impressed by the players’ reaction after the goal,” Al-Hilal coach Diaz said after the game.

Indeed, the Al-Hilal players did not let the frustration of going behind get to them. Instead, Diaz’s men had 70 percent possession in the first half and pounded the Japanese goal with attack after attack, but with limited success.

An 18th-minute injury to star midfielder Carlos Eduardo further complicated things for the hosts as Diaz was forced into an early substitution and introduced Nawaf Al-Abid for his first game after a lengthy injury layoff.

Striker Omar Khribin was particularly wasteful as the hosts created numerous chances and repeatedly found space behind Urawa’s defence. But despite the side’s inefficiency in front of goal, Diaz remained positive as he lauded his players’ attacking intent. “If we didn’t create chances, that would have been a real concern, but we were clearly the better side and created multiple chances,” said the Al-Hilal boss. One man who ensured the hosts did not score the goals their possession perhaps deserved was Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa. The 31-yearold was forced into multiple last- ditch saves in the opening half, and he admitted his defenders were not on their day, leaving him exposed to face a series of Al-Hilal chances. “Football is a team sport,” reflected Nishikawa. “Today, our defence was not perfect, but that is football. As a team, it is your duty to help one another and in games like this you have to be there to make key saves.” Manager Takafumi Hori echoed his goalkeeper’s words as

RIYADH: Ramon Diaz praised his Al-Hilal side’s character after they failed to secure a positive result at home in the first leg of the 2017 AFC Champions League final.