Al-Hilal Club of Saudi Arabia qualified to the next round of AFC Champions League after defeating Al-Gharafa of Qatar 2-1 in the last match of Group D at Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh Tuesday. Hilal opened the scoring in the 48th minute through Ahmad Al-Faridi and doubled the lead in the 65th minute when Nawaf Al-Abed scored off a solo effort. Al-Gharafa's goal came from an own goal from Hilal defender Usama Hawsawi in the 81st minute. Hilal qualified as group leader with 12 points. In the other Group D match, Piroozi Athletic of Iran knocked out Al-Shabab of the UAE 3-1. Eamon Zayed gave Piroozi the lead in the 43rd minute before Mehrdad Pooladi doubled it 10 minutes later. Gholam Badamaki put the match out of reach with an injury-time goal. Jeddah-based Al-Ahli lost to Iran's Sepahan 2-1. However, both had already secured qualification. Sepahan's goals were scored by Sukaj (19th) and Begar (86th) while the only goal of Ahli came from Al-Hosaini in the 62nd minute. In the other Group C encounter, the UAE's Al-Nasr ended its campaign by beating Qatari side Lekhwiya 2-1. Lekhwiya's Lessena Diaby gave his side the lead only for Al-Nasr to strike twice in two minutes, through Amara Diane and then Humaid Abbas. Elsewhere, Japan's Kashiwa Reysol eliminated 2011 runner-up Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2-0 to reach the last 16. Jeonbuk, also the 2006 champion, needed only a point to advance, but fell to second-half goals by Leandro Domingues and Junya Tanaka. Kashiwa advanced as the runner-up in Group H to China Super League champion Guangzhou Evergrande, which beat Thailand's Buriram United 2-1. Japan's Nagoya Grampus also advanced from Group G after beating Australia's Central Coast Mariners 3-0. South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa topped the group with a 3-0 drubbing of China's Tianjin Teda. Al-Ahly, Zamalek drawn together Egyptian rivals Al-Ahly and Zamalek have been drawn in the same group in the African Champions League. The Cairo teams were placed in Group B Tuesday in the continent's top club competition, which is down to the last eight teams. Ghana's Berekum Chelsea and T.P. Mazembe of Congo are also in the group. Defending champion Esperance of Tunisia is in Group A alongside Sunshine Stars of Nigeria, AS Chlef of Algeria and another Tunisian team, Etoile du Sahel. The top two in each group make the semifinals. The Al Ahly-Zamalek ties will likely be played without fans. All African club games in Egypt have been behind closed doors since 74 people died in a riot at a game in February between Al Ahly and Port Said-based Al Masry. The domestic league was called off.
