Neymar scored his first goal since joining Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as Al-Hilal defeated Iran’s Nassaji Mazandaran 3-0 in the Asian Champions League group round at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.
The Brazilian, who joined the Saudi Pro League club from Paris St. Germain in the summer for 90 million euros ($94.23 million), scored in an incident-filled match that saw both sides relegated to 10 men with seven minutes left in the first half.
After consulting the pitchside monitor after an on-field fight, referee Ma Ning threw off Al-Hilal’s Salman Al Faraj and Nassaji’s Amir Houshmand after Aleksandar Mitrovic put the Saudis ahead in the 18th minute.
In the 58th minute, Neymar scored a brilliantly placed left-foot shot to extend Al-Hilal’s advantage, and replacement Saleh Al Shehri sealed the win in injury time.
After drawing Navbahor last month, Al-Hilal won their first continental tournament group match this season.
Uzbekistan beat Mumbai City 3-0 on Tuesday to join Al-Hilal on top of Group D with four points following goals from Jamshid Iskanderov, Jasurbek Yakhshiboev, and Doniyor Abdumannopov.
Al Ain of the UAE beat Turkmenistan’s Ahal 4-2 to take sole ownership of Group A’s top place, while Uzbek Pakhtakor lost 2-0 against Saudi Arabia’s Al Fayha.
After beating Pakhtakor in the first round, Al Ain put on a show in front of their fans when Brazilian midfielder Erik scored in the fourth minute.
Soufiane Rahimi and Kodjo Laba gave Al Ain a three-goal advantage before halftime. While Elman Tagayew pulled one back in the 58th minute, Kouame Kouadio scored a fourth to make Dayanch Meredow’s late strike a consolation.
Al Ain are three points ahead of Ahal and Al Fayha, who beat Pakhtakor 2-0 at home thanks to Abdelhamid Sabiri’s goals in each half.
The three teams from the east and west of the continent with the best runners-up records complete the remaining spots in the final 16. The winners of each of the ten four-team groups advance.
