Al Ahli seal quarter-final spot

Jeddah: A brace from Riyad Mahrez secured Al Ahli Saudi FC a 2-0 win against Al Rayyan SC yesterday as they advanced to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 with a 5-1 aggregate win.

Al Ahli were dominant for large parts of the match but had to withstand some Al Rayyan pressure at the start of the second half before Mahrez scored his seventh and eighth goals of the competition to take his side through.

Roared by passionate support from the stands, Al Ahli bombarded Al Rayyan with early efforts from Galeno and Riyad Mahrez that Paulo Victor did well to block.

The visitors had Merih Demiral to thank in the 20th minute after the Al Ahli defender’s intervention of Roger Ibanez’s header saw the ball cleared on the line by mistake, denying his defensive partner the opening goal.

There was another scare for Al Rayyan eight minutes later when a Victor slip presented the ball to Roberto Firmino but the 38-year-old goalkeeper recovered quickly to block his countryman’s effort.

Al Ahli’s dominance continued with a powerful Ivan Toney shot that Victor punched away as Al Rayyan walked into the break on level terms and no closer to narrowing the gap.

The Qatari side showed more attacking intent after the interval, particularly through Brazilian forward Roger Guedes who had one surging run blocked before a long range effort that was claimed by Al Ahli keeper Abdurahman Al Sanbi.

Al Sanbi was tested again by Al Rayyan in the 58th minute through a thunderous Romarinho strike from the edge of the box that had to be pushed away to safety.

The game needed something special to break the deadlock and it came in the 77th minute in the shape of the mercurial Mahrez.

Taking down a lofted pass from Galeno, Mahrez produced balletic-like movement to not only control the ball but to turn and lift over the advancing Victor in one swift move before adding his second in the 83rd minute to seal a comfortable win for Al Ahli.