Abu Dhabi: Coach Ramon Diaz was in an ecstatic mood as he paid tribute to his Al Hilal players following their 4-0 win over Persepolis in the first leg of the AFC Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
The Argentine extended his unbeaten run in the competition to 11 games and his side take a comfortable four-goal lead into the second leg in Muscat in three weeks’ time.
“The players did very well tonight. We were at our best and the players made the most out of their technical abilities." said the former Paraguay coach.
Al Hilal were reduced to 10 men early in the second half after Abdullah Otayf was sent-off for two bookable offences with the score at 2-0. But Diaz’s men went on to add another two goals to cement their win. He believes mental strength was behind the way his team reacted.
“The secret to our win is hard work and concentration. The players are used to this type of pressure and they were mentally present today and that helped us a lot."
Despite the big winning margin, Al Hilal could have scored more if it was not for wasteful finishing in the final half an hour, especially from Salem Al Dawsari who failed to find the back of the net despite being presented with multiple chances.
Diaz is not too concerned and believes mistakes will always be there.
“We are all very happy with this result. Mistakes are just part of football. The players did well and executed my instructions. Of course, we will work on rectifying our mistakes from this game so we can do better next time."
Hat-trick hero Omar Khribin dedicated the win to his boss and to the fans who rallied behind the team at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Despite the comfortable lead, Khribin insisted that remains no room for complacency.
“We came here to get a result and we did. This is just the first half and there is still a second half in Muscat. We need to do a good job there to progress to the final."
The Syrian international’s three goals against Persepolis take his AFC Champions League tally to seven, level with teammate Carlos Eduardo and just one behind Shanghai SIPG’s Hulk, who leads the goal scoring charts.
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com