Goals: Diaby (14), Ighalo (36), Matheus Pereira (40), Kanno (57), Aldawsari (77), Marega (88), Carillo (92).

Matheus Pareira (Al Hilal).

Diaby gets the MBZ rocking Al Hilal were gaining momentum when Al Jazira suddenly erupted the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium. Thulani Serero unravelled the defence with a sumptuous through-ball, Rabii Mohammed raced on to it and squared it across the box, and Abdoulay Diaby slotted it home from close range. It was a moment that the home fans will remember for a while. Was it a moment that will see the Mali international finish as the tournament’s leading marksman? Golazo Matheus Pareira was linked with Liverpool and Manchester United before joining Al Hilal amid grand fanfare last August. Although he had flickered his pristine genius, he had nevertheless failed to live up to the hype in blue… at least until today. When exceptional invention from Salem Aldawsari gave him a sight on goal, and the 25-year-old produced a sublime finish to put Al Hila ahead. Assists of beauty Al Hilal’s goals were impressive. Their assists were arguably even more so. The lightning Mohamed Kanno footwork that facilitated the first, Aldawsari’s flick in the lead-up to their second, Moussa Marega’s brilliance to tee up the fourth… it’s hard to pick the best.

5.7 Al Jazira’s last three appearances in the tournament have averaged 5.7 goals per game. UAE 2021 has produced an average of 4.3 goals per game so far, leaving it on course to break the record of 4.1 set at the 2018 edition. 6 It took Matheus Pereira six months to score his first Al Hilal goal. By contrast, it took Odion Ighalo just 36 minutes of his debut today.

“We believe we were much the better team, so after we went 1-0 down, we started pressing, acting as a team. Everyone started getting into the game. We scored one, we scored another and we got the result we wanted.” Odion Ighalo

Semi-finals Palmeiras-Al Ahly Al Nahyan Stadium on Tuesday, 8:30pm local time Al Hilal-Chelsea Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday, 8:30pm local time