Al-Hilal Archives - Iran News Daily

Esteghlal to Meet Confident Al Hilal in AFC Champions League Elite

mahla — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 20:08:57 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) The four-time Asian champion has been in phenomenal form on the domestic and continental stages and this spells trouble for an Esteghlal side who is struggling with consistency.

Al Hilal’s winning run in the Saudi Pro League 2024-25 was halted by a 1-1 draw against Al Nassr Club on Friday, with the result narrowing its lead over Al Ittihad to just a point and it will be determined to rebound in fine fashion against Esteghlal.

It will, however, have to tread with caution against Esteghlal as its previous eight meetings ended in four wins each although Al Hilal emerged victorious in its last two encounters.

Esteghlal will head into the tie on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Tractor in the Iran Pro League, the result leaving the team on eight points and well off the pacesetters.

Its continental hopes, however, is still very much in its hands and upstaging Al Hilal will mean it will stay firmly in the race for a knockout stage spot.

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Iran’s Esteghlal restore hopes after defeating Saudi’s Al-Hilal 2-1

reporter 1222 — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 06:00:01 +0000

Lingering at the bottom of group C, the Blues got off to a dream start against the group leaders in Doha on Monday when a corner kick was headed home by Ali Karimi from the edge of the 6-yard box.

Pejman Montazeri then doubled the lead for Esteghlal when he headed into an empty net after 30 minutes of play.

Bafe-timbi Gomis pulled one back for Al Hilal in the 71st minute after smashing in a loose ball in the area to set up a tense finale.

However, Esteghlal held firm to go up to 3rd in the table with 4 points, level with Al-Duhail of Qatar, who drew 2-all at home with Al Ain of the UAE.

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Esteghlal to Host Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in Doha

reporter 1222 — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 06:17:44 +0000

Esteghlal football team from Iran has chosen Doha, Qatar as neutral venue to host Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the 2019 AFC Champions League.

Esteghlal, who has been drawn in Group C, has announced it will host the Saudi Arabian team in Doha.

On Tuesday, Zob Ahan chose Iraqi city Karbala to host Al-Nassr.

According to Asian Football Confederation, clubs from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran should play on a home and away basis as per the AFC regulations, but Saudi Arabia violated the order as their teams will not come to Iran to play the country’s teams.

The 2019 AFC Champions League is scheduled to be played from 5 February to 24 November 2019.

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Al Hilal SFC 0-1 Esteghlal FC, Iran won the grand battle

reporter 1222 — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 08:50:07 +0000

Esteghlal secured first place in Group D with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, thanks to Vouria Ghafouri’s goal on Matchday Six of the 2018 AFC Champions League Group D on Monday.

Al Hilal started the brighter of the two sides and had their first attempt on goal six minutes in, when Achraf Bencharki came close to opening the scoring but his header from the edge of the six-yard box sailed over the bar.

The Saudi side continued to produce attacks had their second big chance in the 19th minute when Mokhtar Fallatah received the ball from Mohmmed Al Burayk’s cross and dribbled past his marker before attempting a strike, only to see his chance saved at the bottom left corner.

Despite Al Hilal’s domination, Esteghlal took the lead against the run of play, following a defensive mistake by Saudi international Yasir Al Shahrani after he failed to clear the ball in the penalty area in front of Vouria Ghafouri, who fired a shot into the centre of the net in the 36th minute.

Seven minutes into the second half, Al Hilal almost levelled the score when Fallatah’s shot hit the left post after a pass from Bencharaki. Two minutes later, Ghafouri responded for the Iranian side, rocketing a ball from a narrow angle but his attempt was saved by goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

Esteghlal’s victory earned them the top spot in Group D with 12 points, while Al Ain finished as runners-up, two points behind. Last year’s runners-up Al Hilal ended their campaign bottom of the group with just two points.

Esteghlal will play the Group B runners-up in the Round of 16 while Al Ain will face Group B winners Al Duhail of Qatar.

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ACL: Esteghlal Wants to Win Group by Avoiding Loss to Al Hilal

reporter 1222 — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 07:50:37 +0000

Bottom faces top in Group D of the AFC Champions League when Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia takes on Iran’s Esteghlal at Kuwait Sports Club Stadium on Monday.

Esteghlal is already assured of a place in the next round having beaten Al Rayyan 2-0 in early April, but the Iranian side must avoid defeat to win the group.

The two-time continental champion, who is without suspended duo Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Omid Ebrahimi, warmed up for the game with a 1-1 draw against Gostaresh Foolad Tabriz in the Iranian league last week.

Runner-up last year, Al Hilal’s form has dropped dramatically this time round and its 2-1 defeat in Al Ain on Matchday Five confirmed its early elimination.

The Saudi side goes into the game on a high, though, after a 4-1 win over Al Fateh secured the Saudi Pro League title on Thursday. Ali Al Bulayhi misses the game through suspension.

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ACL: Esteghlal of Iran defeat Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal

reporter 1222 — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 06:15:18 +0000

TEHRAN – Esteghlal of Iran football team defeated Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Group D of the 2018 AFC Champions League on Tuesday.

In the match held in Muscat’s Seeb Stadium, Abdullah Al-Hafith scored an own goal just after the halftime.

In the 67th minute, Al Hilal goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi was shown a straight red card after handling the ball outside his area.

Esteghlal could have scored more goals but their strikers missed their chances.

Esteghlal remain top of the table with 4 points, followed by Al Rayyan of Qatar (two points), the UAE’s Al Ain (one point) and Al Hilal (one point).

Esteghlal will meet Al Ain in the UAE on March 6 and Al Hilal will entertain Qatar’s Al Rayyan in Riyadh.

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Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal footballers ignore minute’s silence for victims of Iranian plane crash

reporter 1222 — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 06:00:09 +0000

TEHRAN – Al Hilal’s players did not observe the moment of silence in honor of victims of Iranian plane crash on Tuesday.

The silence was planned ahead of the Group D match of the 2018 AFC Champions League between Esteghlal and Al Hilal in Muscat, Oman.

On Sunday, An Iranian commercial plane crashed in a foggy and mountainous southwestern region of the country, killing all 66 people on board.

The Iranian players lined up on the center circle ahead of the match to pay their respects.

But their counterparts from Saudi Arabian team instead walked back to their positions to line up ahead of the game.

Esteghlal defeated Al Hilal 1-0 at the end of the match to remain at top of the group.

Reporting by Masoud Hossein

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Iran’s Esteghlal Selects Turkmenistan to Host Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia

reporter 1222 — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 08:00:28 +0000

Iranian football club Esteghlal has selected Turkmenistan as the neutral venue to host the match against Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia at the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Group Stage.

Esteghlal is drawn along with Al-Rayyan of Qatar, Al-Hilal and Winner Play-off West 1in Group D.

Esteghlal has been scheduled to meet Al-Hilal on Feb. 20.

Al-Hilal has already selected Kuwait as neutral country to host Esteghlal.

The match is scheduled for April 16.

The AFC Executive Committee will decide about the two clubs’ bids.

Teams from Saudi Arabia and Iran will meet in neutral venues for AFC Champions League clashes due to political differences.

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AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS 1ST LEG: AL HILAL FIRMLY IN CONTROL

reporter 1222 — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 06:16:16 +0000

Omar Khribin’s hat-trick helped ensure Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia will take a commanding four-goal lead into the second leg of the 2017 AFC Champions League semi-final in three weeks’ time after posting a 4-0 first leg victory over Islamic Republic of Iran’s Persepolis at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.

After a lively opening, Carlos Eduardo should have put Al Hilal in front in the eighth minute but was denied by a fine save from goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, before Nicolas Milesi’s effort zipped just wide 10 minutes later as the Saudi side took control of the game.

But Al Hilal did open the scoring on 31 minutes when Syrian forward Khribin popped up at the back post to head home Mohammed Al Burayk’s deep cross from the right.

Yasser Al Shahrani then doubled the advantage five minutes before the interval by drilling into the bottom right corner from 18 yards after good work from Salem Al Dawsari.

Persepolis were thrown a lifeline early in the second half, though, when Abdullah Otayf was dismissed for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.

However in the 54th minute, Khribin nipped in behind the Iranian backline to produce a neat finish for his second – and sixth of the tournament – after a lovely low ball from Al Dawsari on the right.

Ahmad Nourollahi could have pulled one back with 15 minutes to play but saw his effort saved by Abdullah Al Mayoof in the Al Hilal goal, before Al Dawsari came close to adding another with 10 minutes to play but miscued from inside the box.

But the misery was not over for Persepolis as Khribin broke through their defence in the final minute to fire a fabulous low drive from 20 yards beyond Beiranvand to give the Iranian side a mountain to climb in Oman next month.

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Persepolis Has Had Historic AFC Champions League So Far: AFC

reporter 1222 — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 07:50:23 +0000

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has reported that Iran’s Persepolis football team has had a historic AFC Champions League campaign in 2017 so far.

The Iranian football team has progressed to the Round of 16, where it defeated Lekhwiya of Qatar 1-0 to reach the quarter-final for the first time.

Branko Ivankovic’s men then went one step further when they completed a 5-3 aggregate victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli to book their spot in the semi-final.

The Tehran-based side showed great spirit and belief in the quarter-final after overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the first leg before managing to defeat Al Ahli 3-1 in the second leg, despite being a man down since the 12th minute after Kamal Kamyabinia’s sending off.

Godwin Mensha is a key player as he chipped in with two crucial goals off the bench.

Mohsen Mosalman and Ali Alipour have the ability to change the game, with both registering three assists each so far. Mosalman, in particular, has excelled, with his 21 chances created putting him joint-highest among the semi-finalist.

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