Sardar Azmoun double fires Shabab Al Ahli to victory at Al Ittihad, Al Hilal win at Al Sadd

Sardar Azmoun scored both goals as Shabab Al Ahli secured a remarkable away victory over Al Ittihad in the AFC Champions League. The win gave the UAE club a perfect six points from six, while Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad only managed a single point after drawing their opening match against Al Shamal SC of Qatar last month. The home team dominated the match, starting strongly with Ahmed Al Julaydan forcing a save from Matheus Donelli in the sixth minute.

Shabab Al Ahli then took the lead three minutes later when Guilherme Bala set up Azmoun, who slid the ball past the keeper into the net. Al Ittihad managed to get back on level terms with Steven Bergwijn's strike in the 13th minute, but Azmoun doubled Shabab Al Ahli's lead just three minutes after that. The Al Ittihad coach, Jens Wissing, admitted that "we conceded two goals because of easy mistakes, which made the task difficult afterwards."

He also mentioned that his team "played with three forwards because we had more crosses, and it was possible to make use of one of the crosses." Elsewhere, Al Hilal recorded their second consecutive win, defeating Al Sadd 2-0. Ollie Watkins opened the scoring for the Saudi Pro League leaders in the first half, and Ruben Neves sealed the victory with a penalty in the second half.

Coach Simone Inzaghi praised his team's performance, stating that they "produced a big performance and controlled most of the game." He also commended Gabriel Martinelli, calling him a "big player" and noting that the Al Sadd defense provided a tough challenge for him.