Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
London: Al Hilal enjoyed the perfect fillip ahead of the forthcoming AFC Champions League quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Riyadh rivals Al Nassr in the 2015/16 Saudi Arabia season-opening Super Cup.
Wednesday’s meeting between last season’s Saudi Professional League (SPL) champions and the King’s Cup winners was settled in the 62nd minute when Brazilian midfielder Carlos Eduardo - making his Al Hilal debut following his recent signing from Portuguese giants Porto - applied the finishing touch to Yasser Al Shahrani’s cross from the left.
The third edition of the Saudi Super Cup marked the first time the match took place outside of the Kingdom, with Wednesday’s encounter taking place at Loftus Road, home of 2015 AFC Asian Cup MVP Massimo Luongo and former Korea Republic international left back Yun Suk-young.
Al Hilal return to AFC Champions League action on August 25 when the last year’s ACL runners-up take on Qatar champions Lekhwiya at the King Fahd International Stadium for the first leg of their 2015 quarter-final before making the short trip to Doha for the return fixture, which takes place on September 15 at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in the Qatari capital.
Prior to the resumption of their ACL campaign the two-time Asian Club Championship, Asian Cup Winners’ Cup, and Asian Super Cup winners take on Al Wahda on August 19 in their opening match of the 2015/16 SPL.
Photo: AFP