April 21 – Al Ahli Saudi will defend their Asian Champions League Elite title against either FC Machida Zelvia or Shabab Al Ahli on Saturday after second half goals from Galeno and Ivan Toney saw off the challenge of Vissel Kobe 2-1 at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Riyadh.
The champions went into the break a goal down after Yoshinori Muto had given the J1 League side a 31st minute lead.
Kobe had survived a double scare in the dying seconds of the half, with Rayan Hamed hitting the woodwork with a header and a Toney attempt just inches wide.
Toney was in action early in the second half having a goal ruled out for offside as Al Ahli took the game to Kobe.
Their equaliser came from a sustained period of pressure with the ball coming to Galeno who hit a shot from distance past a despairing Daiya Maekawa in the Kobe goal.
Soon after Al Ahli were in front when Maekawa flapped at Galeno’s cross only for it to land at the feet of Toney who threaded it past three Kobe defenders.
Al Ahli will now meet with another Japanese side FC Machida Zelvia or Shabab Al Ahli from the UAE. They play their semi-final at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium tonight.
Machida defeated Al Ittihad Club 1-0 in the quarter-finals while Shabab needed extra-time to beat Buriram United 3-2
chida Zelvia from Japan or Shabab Al Ahli from the United Emirates in the final, with that pair due to meet in the second semi-final at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Machida coach Go Kuroda said: “For us, this (to reach semi-finals) was the first challenge when we came to Jeddah,” said Kuroda. “We played against a high level opponent (Al Sadd SC) and managed to advance. We are so pleased.
“The players are thankful as well. We are here to win the tournament so we don’t want to lose. Yes, we have an advantage from a schedule perspective. But this is the semi-final, both teams will expect a high quality match and as soon as the game starts, the players won’t feel whatever lethargy they were feeling before.”
Shabab coach Paulo Sousa, praised his young players but saod the job was not yet finished.
“I’m very content that we are one of the best four teams in the continent, this is a great pride,” said Sousa. “But we are not done yet, we still want to go further.”
“Our presence in this tournament makes us very proud, particularly as we have young players with at least 10 of age 22 or less who have played. They have developed well, which makes the coaching staff very proud.”
Al Ahli await the winner.
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