Hilal and Al-Ittihad remained unbeaten in their Asian Champions League matches on Tuesday. While Al-Hilal beat its Emirati rival Al-Ahli 2-1 in Riyadh, Al-Ittihad was held to a goalless draw by another UAE side Al-Jazira in Abu Dhabi. Al-Hilal sits second with five points following Tuesday's come-from-behind win in Group A, which is led by Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan, which won 2-0 over Saba Battery of Iran. The close-fought game looked set for a draw until Al-Hilal's Romanian midfielder Mirel Radoi earned a penalty in the 94th minute and hammered his shot into the left side of the goal. Al-Ahli took the lead when Ahmed Khalil stole the ball away from a stumbling opponent and scored in the 13th minute. Al-Hilal's Yasser Al-Qahtani equalized for the Saudi club in the 32nd minute, capitalizing on a pass from South Korean teammate Seol Ki-hiyeon and heading the ball into the goal. The win was the first for Al-Hilal in the competition after two draws against Saba Battery and Pakhtakor. Al-Ittihad, meanwhile, could win only one point following the draw with Al-Jazira. Ittihad, however, remains on top of Group C with seven points, one ahead of Qatar's Umm Salal, which won 1-0 over Esteghlal of Iran in Doha. The hosts dominated for much of the game and were unlucky when Diaky Ibrahim's powerful shot from the top edge of the box crashed against the post 11 minutes from time. Al-Jazira's Brazilian striker Rafael Sobis also had a shot from inside the box brilliantly saved by Mabrouk Zaid and compatriot Fernando Baiano had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock six minutes after the break, but failed to score with only the goalkeeper to beat. Victory for Japan's Kashima Antlers, Korea's Ulsan, Shanghai Shenhua and Uzbek heavyweights Pakhtakor kept them on track for the AFC Champions League knockout rounds Wednesday. Kashima, back-to-back J-League winner, trounced Singapore Armed Forces 4-1 while Ulsan ground out a well-deserved 1-0 home win over Beijing Guoan. Pakhtakor traveled to Iran and came away with all three points after a 2-0 triumph over Saba Battery to leave it firmly in control of Group A. In other games, Nagoya Grampus was held to a 1-1 draw by Australia's Newcastle Jets, although the Japanese outfit goes top of Group E after Ulsan claimed its first victory of the campaign over Beijing. Shanghai needed a late goal from Belarus forward Vyacheslav Hleb, younger brother of Barcelona star Alexander, to beat Korea's Suwon Bluewings 2-1 and move to six points in Group G. They share the lead alongside Suwon and Kashima, with Singapore, who only qualified through February's playoffs, also rans. On Wednesday, Al-Ittifaq hosts Al-Shabab of the UAE at the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam in their Group D match while Al-Shabab of Riyadh plays Sharjah in the UAE. __
