Al Hilal edge Urawa in first leg of AFC Champions League final
Andre Carrillo's close-range header proves to be winning goal
Leg 2 on 24 November in Saitama, Japan
Al Hilal edged Urawa Red Diamonds 1-0 in the first leg of the AFC Champions League final at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh with Andre Carrillo scoring the winning goal with a header in the second half.
The result represents the first win for the Saudi Arabian club against Urawa in AFC Champions League history.
The hosts were on top of proceedings in the first half, but Urawa keeper Haruki Fukushima was up to anything that Razvan Lucescu's side threw his way, with Sebastian Giovinco being the primary threat.
The Italian forward nearly found the opening goal in the 29th minute, but Takuya Aoki saved his team with a goalline clearance.
There was nothing Fukushima and Co could do about Carrillo's close-ranger header a quarter of an hour into the second half, however. The Peruvian international, who was the source of a lot of Al Hilal's attacking production on the evening, headed in from Mohammed Al-Burayk's cross.
Al Hilal held on to their deserved lead and will travel to Japan in two weeks' time to contest the second leg with their slight advantage.
Al Hilal 1-0 Urawa Red Diamonds (AFC Champions League Final, first leg)
Did you know?
No Japanese team has ever lost an AFC Champions League Final
Both Al Hilal and Urawa are playing in their third Champions League Final—the Saudi Arabian side lost on both previous occasions while Urawa won both of theirs and are looking to become the first team to win the competition three times
Should Urawa win the 2019 final, Japan would equal Korea Republic with most titles in competition history (5)