Saudi Arabia WATCH: Neymar scores first goal in fifth appearance for Al-Hilal

Neymar scored his first goal in his fifth appearance for Al-Hilal on Tuesday as the Saudi Arabian club beat Nassaji Mazandaran 3-0 in Tehran on a calmer day in the Asian Champions League.

Just 24 hours after another Saudi team, Al-Ittihad, left Iran without taking the field against Sepahan, four-time continental champion Al-Hilal was too strong for the Iranian hosts at the Azadi Stadium. Aleksandar Mitrovic, signed from English Premier League team Fulham in the summer, opened the scoring after 10 minutes.

Neymar, who missed a penalty in last Friday’s win over Al-Shabab in the Saudi Pro League, had been the target of cans and bottles thrown from the home fans in Tehran in possible retaliation for his social media comments that appeared to criticize the state of the field at the stadium.

Read Also: Neymar sets awful record in his AFC Champions league debut with Al-Hilal

https://twitter.com/ChampionsTV_/status/1709440575080943835

The former Barcelona superstar, who moved to Riyadh from Paris Saint-Germain in August, silenced the crowd two minutes before the hour as he shot home from the edge of the area. Saleh Al-Shehri added a third in added time. The win puts Al-Hilal top of Group D with four points.

The 10 group winners and the six best-performing second-place teams will progress to the second round. Fellow Saudi Arabian team Al-Fayha defeated Pakhtakor 2-0 in Group A with Abdelhamid Sabiri of Morocco scoring both goals.

Japanese champion Yokohama F. Marinos bounced back from an opening game defeat to win 1-0 at China’s Shandong Taishan, while South Korean champion and two-time continental winner Ulsan Hyundai lost 1-0 at Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale.


Dennis Mabuka

Dennis Mabuka is a seasoned Kenyan journalist with 18 years of experience covering sports events. He is currently a sport content creator with en.Africatopsports.com.

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