Neymar returns as Al-Hilal beat Al Ain in ACL Elite

The Brazilian returned after a year of recovering from an ACL injury.

In a goal-galore match, the AFC Champions League Elite saw Al-Hilal beat Al Ain 5-4 as Salem Aldawsari registered a hat-trick. The match also saw much much-awaited return of star player Neymar who was sidelined for a year with an ACL injury he suffered during a game for Brazil last term.

Al-Hilal preserved their excellent form this season and were impressive throughout this match despite allowing four goals, as they also had answers to all the Al Ain questions and remained the more potent side in the attack.

The Saudi-based side broke the deadlock when Renan Lodi found the back of the net in 26 minutes, but Al Ain replied quickly through Soufiane Rahimi in the 39th minute.

Al-Hilal once again went ahead when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic put the visitors ahead at 45+2. Al-Hilal took the two-goal lead in the game when Aldawsari scored his first goal of the game at the 45+5 mark. However, the host managed to cut the gap when Mateo Sanabria scored in 63 minutes on the clock.

However, Aldawsari managed to find the back of the net once again in the 65th minute with an excellent strike. The host instantly replied back with the 67th-minute strike as they were one goal down.

Aldawsari’s excellent goalscoring form saw him complete a treble as he seemed to have put the game to bed when he scored in the 75th minute. But there was more to come when the host received a penalty at the 90+6 mark. Soufiane Rahimi stepped up to take the spot kick and calmly slotted in to complete his hat-trick.

It appeared that the host would rally back but Al-Hilal did not let their guard down and managed to scrape out a massive 5-4 win in the AFC Champions League Elite. Not a bad time for the return of Neymar.

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