Persepolis Takes Severe Drubbing From Al Hilal

Persepolis of Iran suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the first leg of the 2017 AFC Champions League semi-final at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Omar Khribin’s hat-trick helped ensure Al Hilal take a commanding four-goal lead into the second leg of the semi-final in three weeks’ time.

According to the-afc.com, Al Hilal opened the scoring on the 31st minute 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 16 meters 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.

But the misery was not over for Persepolis as Khribin broke through their defense in the final minute to fire a fabulous low drive from 18 meters beyond Beiranvand to give the Iranian side a mountain to climb in Oman next month.

Persepolis needs a miracle to reach the final. Although not impossible, the Reds should win Al Hilal with a five goal difference on the return match in order to go to the final match of the 2017 AFC Champions League.