Ridiculous Rumor

Last week was tough on the blue team. After being knocked out of the Crown Prince Cup on the hands of Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal had to leave to Uzbekistan where they played the local Pakhtakor on match day 3 in the AFC Champions League groups stage. Following a disappointing 1-1 draw to Kuwait Club in Riyadh on match day 1, this match was crucial if the team wanted to keep their hopes alive in Asia's most prestigious club competition.

Al-Hilal had put an impressive display in the People's Stadium in Tashkent, snatching a 2-0 win. Both goals were scored early in the second half: Omar scored with a beautiful strike on the rebound after Al-Shelhoub's free kick hit the wall on the 52nd minute. Seven minutes later, Al-Shelhoub was involved again as he passed a through ball to Yassir but he could not control it, only to find his Brazilian teammate Rodrigao who easily put it in the net.

Following the much-needed away win, the team were quickly back to Riyadh on a private jet to prepare for the capital's derby against rivals Al-Nassr. Upon their arrival, newspapers and online forums were circulating a ridiculous rumor: a big fight burst on the airplane when Sami, Al-Deaie and Aziz drank alcohol, and some players tried to stop them. For me, the obvious explanation is not far from this: Because they know their team have become too weak to compete with Al-Hilal, some Nassrawi propagandists thought they could shake the team's confidence using this cheap tactics. It took about two days for Al-Hilal VP Tariq Al-Twaijri to come out and say the rumor was totally false, and that the three players would start the derby, rejecting media reports that the club have suspended them on the background of the aforementioned rumor.

Unfortunately, last night's derby did not live up to the usual expectations. Al-Nassr had the upper hand in the first half, and Saad Al-Harthi in particular seemed dangerous. He could slip behind Al-Hilal center-backs several times but his attempts lacked the last touch. Al-Hilal had a few chances too, most notably Yassir's acrobatic move, but his shot was a bit wide. I think most of Al-Zaeem fans were happy to hear the whistle ending the first half goal-less.

Al-Hilal started the second half in a better shape, but it was obvious that they were desperately the injured Libyan playmaker Tariq Al-Taib. Furthermore, Paqueta have decided to keep the two players who could in a way or another play Al-Taib's role on the bench. In the time I was waiting to see Paqueta bring in Sami or Nawaf, he had to take Yassir out because he picked up a minor injury and brought Fahad Mubarak in. Yassir has been out-of-form for the past few matches, and I thought this game would be his big comeback, but it wasn't. Mubarak was energetic, his fast moves have made some troubles to Al-Bahri, but he also missed two chances in front of the goal.

As the last third of the second half was approaching, left-back Al-Khathran moved quickly in the flank, crossing the ball inside the box to the anticipating Mubarak and Rodrigao, but before it reached its target, it was deflected by Ahmed Al-Khair and it's in the net. The OG was enough for Al-Hilal, who didn't put much effort in the few remaining minutes, especially that their opponents did not look threatening. By the end of this match, Al-Hilal needs only one point out of their next two matches against Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab to secure the top position in the league.

The team now have ten days to relax and get ready to play Pakhtakor again, but this time in King Fahad International Stadium in Riyadh on April 25. It will be a good chance for Paqueta to work on improving the performance which was much less than satisfactory.