Al-Hilal 1-3 Al-Ahli: Firmino and Toney score in all-Saudi semi-final

Roberto Firmino and Ivan Toney were among the goals as Al-Ahli reached the AFC Champions League Elite final with an impressive 3-1 win over Saudi Pro League rivals Al-Hilal.

The former Premier League forwards struck to cap a strong first-half display from Al-Ahli, who sealed victory through Feras Al Brikan after their opponents had Kalidou Koulibaly sent off in the second half.

Just nine minutes were on the clock when Al-Ahli went ahead, Firmino making a run to the near post to apply a sidefooted finish to Galeno’s left-wing cross.

Another excellent goal saw them double their advantage in the 27th minute, with Toney latching onto a clever throughball from Riyad Mahrez to round Yassine Bounou for a simple finish.

Al-Hilal were below-par throughout the first half but got themselves back in the contest on the stroke of half-time, Salem Al Dawsari taking advantage of the ball breaking his way to slam past Edouard Mendy.

But that strike failed to revitalise the reigning Saudi champions, and they were really up against it when Koulibaly was sent off just before the hour mark, having picked up a second yellow card for a clumsy foul on Roger Ibanez.

Al-Ahli could have finished the tie when Hamad Al Yami fouled Mahrez for an 82nd-minute penalty, but Bounou sprang to his right to palm Franck Kessie’s poor kick away.

Matthias Jaissle’s team did get their clinching goal seven minutes into stoppage time, though, with Al Brikan striking to tee up their final clash with Al-Nassr or Kawasaki.

FULL TIME
Al-Ahli : Al-Hilal

WE’RE IN THE FINAL! #الأهلي_الهلال #ACLElite pic.twitter.com/2YCbhXHlSb

— Al-Ahli Saudi Club (@ALAHLI_FCEN) April 29, 2025

Data debrief: Mahrez matches record

With Al-Ahli 1-0 up, Mahrez provided arguably the moment of the match, sliding a wonderful throughball into the path of Toney, who applied a composed finish.

Mahrez has now contributed to a goal in six straight AFC Champions League Elite matches for the very first time, bettering a run of five games with a goal involvement between September and November last year.

His 17 goals and assists combined in this season’s competition (nine goals, eight assists) are a t-record, with Muriqui previously achieving that tally for Guangzhou in 2013 (13 goals, four assists) – since data collection began in 2013.

Al-Hilal had reached the final on five previous occasions, from eight runs to the last four. But they were denied as Al-Ahli reached the showpiece match for just the second time, after finishing as runners-up to Ulsan Hyundai in 2013.