Shabab beat South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa 4-3 in a thrilling Asian Champions League semifinal first leg match at King Fahd International Stadium Tuesday. The host will take a slender advantage to Korea for the second leg in a fortnight's time, optimistic it can reach its first continental final. Shabab trailed 3-2 with 10 minutes to play when Uruguayan striker Juan Manuel Olivera claimed his second goal of the night in the 83rd minute to level the score before substitute Faisal Bin Sultan snatched an 89th-minute winner in front of 9,300 spectators. Seongnam took an early lead when former Colombian international Mauricio Molina opened the scoring with a long-range volley in the fourth minute. Olivera, a recent signing from Universidad de Chile, canceled out the visitor's opener when he lobbed home in the 15th minute, only for Jo Jae-Cheol to restore the advantage for Shin Tae-yong's men 11 minutes later. Saudi international Nassir Al-Shamrani drew Shabab level shortly before the hour mark but Jorge Fossati's team once again proved unable to stay on level terms for long as Molina put Seongnam ahead for a third time in the 69th minute. Molina's goals, his sixth and seventh of the tournament, took him to second place in the top scorers standings behind Jose Mota of Suwon Bluewings (9). Seongnam looked on course for a famous victory, but Olivera stabbed in the equalizer after Jung Sung-ryong had parried his initial header before Faisal Bin Sultan claimed the winner to earn his team a narrow first-leg advantage. The return leg takes place in Korea on Oct. 20, with the final in Tokyo slated for Nov. 13. Iranian league leader Zobahan hosts in-form Saudi champion Al-Hilal in the first leg of the other semifinal Wednesday. Hilal is Saudi Arabia's most successful club with 12 league titles and it is also on a run of form that has seen it win its last five consecutive Saudi league games. Zobahan, however, is looking to continue its remarkable AFC Champions League run as it bids to emulate fellow Esfahan club Sepahan, which reached the final three years ago. Juniors win 1-0 Yahya Dagriri's late goal kept Saudi Arabia's hopes of a place in the quarterfinals of the AFC U-19 Championship alive with a 1-0 win over Thailand in China. Having lost its opening Group A game against China 3-1, three points were vital for Khalid Al-Koroni's side and Dagriri's 82nd minute strike decided a game that was short on genuine chances. The result also confirms China's place in the last eight while the winner of Saudi Arabia's final game with Syria will progress to the knockout stage alongside the host. Both sides missed countless opportunities to score. Thailand was the first to threaten as Surachet Ngamtip saw a shot acrobatically tipped over the bar by keeper Abdullah Al-Sdairy. Mohammed Majrashi then fired wide at the other end before Adisak Kraisorn spun in the box but his effort was way off target. A scrappy first-half saw opportunities few and far between but some neat play from Adisak resulted in the forward feeding Chakrit Ravanprakon, who displayed quick feet before his deflected shot was again pushed over by Al-Sdairy on the half-hour mark.
