Houssem Aouar produced a stunning hat-trick as Al-Ittihad stormed into the Asian Champions League Elite knockout stage with a crushing 7-0 victory over Al-Gharafa in Jeddah on Tuesday.
The emphatic win secured Sergio Conceicao’s side a place in the next round, while Roberto Mancini’s Al-Sadd strengthened their qualification hopes with a 2-0 success against Tractor FC.
Al-Ittihad wasted no time asserting control. New signing Youssef En-Nesyri, brought in last week to replace Karim Benzema following his move to Al-Hilal, opened the scoring in the third minute by calmly finishing Muhannad Al-Shanqiti’s low cross from the right.
Aouar doubled the lead in the 20th minute with a precise right-footed strike into the bottom corner. Roger Fernandes added a third shortly after the break, sliding in to score in the 49th minute. Defensive lapses continued to plague Al-Gharafa, and two minutes later Danilo Pereira rose unmarked at a corner to head in from Aouar’s delivery.
Aouar struck again in the 58th minute with a well-taken volley, before Fernandes made it six four minutes later. The Algerian midfielder completed his hat-trick 11 minutes from time to cap a dominant display.
The victory lifted Al-Ittihad to 12 points and fifth in the standings, four points clear of ninth-placed Sharjah FC with one league-phase match remaining.
Elsewhere, Al-Sadd broke the deadlock against already-qualified Tractor FC in the 61st minute when Akram Afif’s header set up Rafa Mujica, who finished clinically from close range. Roberto Firmino sealed the win late on, converting Claudinho’s precise pass in the 89th minute.
“We knew we had to win tonight,” said Firmino. “Tractor are among the top teams in the competition, so this was a big result for us.”
The win moved Al-Sadd up to eighth place, currently occupying the final qualifying spot for the knockout rounds.
The top eight teams from both the East and West Asian zones will advance to the last 16, which will be played over two legs. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be staged in Saudi Arabia in April at a centralised venue.
