Lekhwiya down al-Hilal in AFC Champions League

Lekhwiya grabbed the initiative in their AFC Champions League Round of 16 clash with Saudi giants Al Hilal as a late deflected goal by Youssef AL Msakni gave them a 1-0 away win in the first leg on Wednesday.  The match at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium looked to be headed for a goalless draw until the Tunisian’s effort from the edge of the box in the 81st minute nicked off Ozeia (Ozéia de Paula Maciel) and rolled past a wrong-footed Abdullah Mohammed into the bottom right corner of the net.  It meant a happy return to Riyadh for Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets, who was in charge of Al Hilal when they reached the AFC Champions League semi-finals in 2010.  Al Hilal had the better of the chances in the first half. Abdulla Zori had his stinging drive pushed out for a corner by goalkeeper Amine Lecomte in the 10th minute while Salem Al Dawsari curled a shot just over the crossbar five minutes later.  The home side’s best opportunity arrived late in the half when Wesley (Wesley Lopez da Silva) was picked out in the six-yard box by an excellent through pass by Mohammed Al Shalhoub. The Brazilian spun and shot only to be denied by an excellent save by Lecomte  Chances were few and far between in the second half although Lekhwiya’s Adel Lamy could have done better in the 57th minute when he was set up by Issiar Dia’s clever backheel but dragged his shot from the edge of the box wide of the target.  Al Hilal lacked ideas in the final third and they were appealing for a penalty with nine minutes to go when Yasser Al Qahtani appeared to be fouled in the box by Dame Traore when Lekhwiya went on the counterattack.  Msakni received the ball on the right edge of the Al Hilal box and with the home team’s defenders backing off, he lined up a shot which took a wicked deflection off Ozeia which left goalkeeper Mohammed helpless. Source: Qatar Olympic Committee