On April 18, Beijing time, the AFC Champions League semifinals were contested, and Riyadh Crescent lost 2-4 away to Ain, ending the record of 34 consecutive wins in world football. Ulsan HD defeated Yokohama Mariners 1-0 with Lee Dong-kyung's sword. Let's take a look at a brief review of the two exciting matchups.
Ain Riyadh Crescent
Nadir steals the ball in the middle of the field and pushes it into the box at high speed, assists Rahimi to push a shot into the far corner, and Ain strikes a lightning goal in the opening six minutes, and the situation is very good. Riyadh Crescent gained possession and pressed forward frequently, but there were not many ways to defend against the home team. On the contrary, it was Ain who took advantage of the pressure of the new moon to play a sharp counterattack again, Rahimi successfully stepped forward in the penalty area against offside and was tackled by the goalkeeper to create a penalty, and he scored the ball himself. The trailing Crescent pressed hard, and Ain's tactics of playing the ball behind him worked again, Eric received a long pass from the back and broke through the penalty area on the left side and was tackled by the defender, the referee reviewed VAR and awarded another penalty, and Rahimi scored a hat-trick for the second time. Ain had a three-goal lead in the first half.
The Crescents, who had fallen into adversity, returned to the second half and quickly launched a sharp counter-attack, Milinkovic broke through the box on the right and crossed to assist Malcolm to outflank and push home to pull a goal back. Ain did the same and used the ball behind him to break through again, Rahimi was brought down again when he got rid of the box, and Kaku fired home to extend the gap to three goals. The Crescents haven't given up yet, but the threat they pose isn't great. In the final stage, the Crescents pressed the cross in front of the goal to create chaos in front of the goal, and Dosari was clever in front of the goal, grabbed the landing point and turned around to volley to score a goal. Ain stepped up his defense and didn't let his opponent score again. At full-time, Al Ain won 4-2 at home, ending Riyadh Crescent's 34-game winning streak. The whole team of Al Ain is worth only 34.4 million euros, but they defeated the Crescent team, which is worth as much as 240 million euros, and staged a wonderful show of defeating the strong with the weak.
Ulsan HD - Yokohama Mariner
Both sides were cautious and constantly probing for holes in their opposition defence. Ulsan found a breakthrough on the left and launched an offensive with a low cross, and Joo Min-gyu turned his back in the box to assist, and Lee Dong-hyung calmly pushed the goal. Ulsan Bianzhong combines quick and concise tactics and has a strong ability to seize opportunities. Faced with a trailing situation, Yokohama Mariners quickly adjusted their form to try to equalize. Mateus, the core of the midfield, took the ball in the middle and got rid of the defense and fired a long shot that was bravely saved by Cho Hyun-woo. Yokohama Mariners were awarded a well-placed free-kick in the 42nd minute when Mateus fired over the crossbar. In the 44th minute, Lopes took advantage of the opportunity of the front court to counter-attack, and his shot at the top of the arc was quickly confiscated by Cho Hyun-woo. At the end of the half, Yokohama Mariners threatened the opponent's goal on several occasions, but Ulsan's defense was solid and the goalkeeper performed well.
Instead of being conservative in the lead, Ulsan continued to press, trying to take advantage of the opponent's unstable defensive position to strike quickly. In the 50th minute, they instigated an offensive with a long pass from the backfield, and Zhou Mingui received a teammate's header and was saved. In the next ten minutes, the Ulsan offensive was in full swing. Joo Min-gyu fired a low shot into the near corner and bounced off the post. Lee Dong-hyung fired a low shot from near the penalty line and bounced off the post again. In the final stage, Zhou Mingui received a teammate to complete the goal, and the referee ruled that he was offside. Yokohama Mariners had the best equaliser of the game in the 81st minute when Mateus fired over the crossbar from close range. At full-time, Ulsan HD beat Yokohama Mariners 1-0 at home.