Al Duhail coach Hernan Crespo could not explain the heavy defeat his team suffered 7-0 against Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League on Sunday.
Odion Ighalo’s quartet ensured Al Hilal achieved the biggest victory in the history of the tournament, surpassing its previous record when it beat Bani Yas of the United Arab Emirates 7-1 in 2012.
Al-Hilal quickly decided the match, as Ighalo opened the scoring after two minutes, then the Nigerian striker added the second goal in the tenth minute. Musa Marega made it 3-0, then scored a second goal in the 27th minute, prompting Al Duhail fans to leave the stadium.
Salem Al-Dosari added to the pain of the Qatari team in the 38th minute.
Ighalo completed his hat-trick after a pass from Al-Dosari in the 48th minute, and secured a record victory when he exchanged passes with Abdullah Al-Hamdan to shoot into the far corner in the 62nd minute.
Crespo, who led Al Duhail to the semi-finals for the first time in his history, told a press conference: I cannot explain what happened on the field, because Al Hilal was better than us. In football, there are no secrets, and when you play against a team like Al-Hilal, and your team lacks many players, you can lose. Despite that, I am proud of the players for reaching this role for the first time in the history of Al-Duhail.
Al-Duhail suffered a heavy blow minutes before the start of the match, after Edmilson Junior, returning from injury, left the starting line-up.
Argentinian coach added: We are unlucky with injuries that caused many players to be absent from my team. We played against a big team without many of the players I was counting on.
Al-Duhail will focus on the Qatari league, as it will play against Al-Arabi in a fateful match next Thursday.
Al-Duhail leads the standings with 32 points from 13 matches, one point ahead of Al-Arabi, second in the standings, who played 14 matches.
