Al Rayyan head coach says performance in the 3-1 loss against Al Hilal is worthy to be proud of and is indicative of better days despite the disappointment.

An early goal and a second-half penalty save were not enough for Al Rayyan as Al Hilal salvaged a 3-1 win over the hosts in the AFC Champions League opener at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. 

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s early header was followed by goals from Joao Cancelo and Marcos Leonardo two minutes late in the first half, giving the visitors a commanding lead despite some threatening moments from Al Rayyan on Tuesday.

Roger Guedes’ goal in the 47th minute came as an encouraging sign, but Al Rayyan’s head coach Poya Asbaghi noted that the two late goals conceded in the first half ultimately made the difference. 

“The first goal did not affect us much,” Asbaghi said. “They scored two goals when we relaxed a bit too much and you cannot relax even for a minute against a side like Al Hilal.”

“We are disappointed with the result but we are proud of the attitude that the team showed,” the Swedish coach went on to say. “Most teams give up when they’re down against Al Hilal but my team tried to get back.”

Roger Guedes and Gabriel Pereira had surged forward to force a save from Al Hilal’s goalkeeper Yassine Bounou just 15 seconds into the match, an early indicator of the home side’s attacking intent. 

It was, however, the away side that hit the target first with Serbia international Milinkovic-Savic getting behind Malcolm’s cross and beating his marker David Garcia to score in the 15th minute. 

“We were in the game and we tried to brush off and go forward. We dominated between the 30 and 40-minute mark,” Asbaghi said, acknowledging the side’s new signings are yet to form the best of combinations. 

Al Hilal had come closer to scoring against the run of play in the fifth minute but an unmarked Aleksander Mitrovic failed to direct his header on target. 

Just four minutes later, Garcia nearly redeemed the missed chance with another header, only for Yassine Bounou to punch it over the crossbar.

By the half-hour mark, Al Hilal’s game-plan was crystal clear: they focused their attacks through Malcolm and Joao Cancelo on the right side, targeting Al Rayyan’s Hazem Ahmed, who had already received a yellow card in the 25th minute.

Despite looking like the more potent of the two sides briefly, Al Rayyan were punished again from the right. Cancelo surged forward with an overlapping run in the 42nd minute and finished Malcolm’s pass to score on his continental debut. 

Two minutes later, the Portugal international assisted to make it 3-0 as forward Marcos Leonardo hit the target from inside the box. 

Cancelo said his man-of-the-match-winning performance against a “courageous side that took initiative” was made possible by his teammates. 

“Malcolm and I played well today and Salem [Al-Dawsari] and Mitrovic did well the other night. It is always good to have the quality in the team that can win us matches,” he added. 

The half-time interrupted Al Hilal’s surging momentum and the home team made the most out of it at the start of the second period. 

Al Rayyan’s forward Guedes scored off Achraf Bencharki’s pass from outside of the boot to pull one back just two minutes into the half. 

New signing Mahmoud Trezeguet showed flashes of skill, but the front three’s chemistry struggled to produce results. Head coach Asbaghi believes that with more time and training, their collaboration will improve.

At the other end, it was a busy affair for Al Rayyan as the Saudi side kept pelting shots at goalkeeper Paulo Victor’s post.  

Victor saved Mitrovic’s penalty in the 70th minute, which was awarded after a lengthy Video Assistant Referee review confirmed Garcia’s handball in the box. 

It wasn’t the last time Victor was called into action that night, as Jorge Jesus’ team continued to generate chances in the second half but failed to be as incisive as the first half.

“​​We did enough to get the job done today. We had more chances in the second half, but we scored three in the first half. I understand football is a game of two halves, but the end result is what matters, not the individual half’s score. It is simple: the team who scores the most wins.” 

Al Hilal, currently unbeaten in the new season, will host Iraq’s Al Shorta on October 1 whereas Al Rayyan will travel to Riyadh to face Al Nassr.