Firmino, Mahrez replace Ronaldo to make history

Al Ahli made history by winning the Asian Cup for the first time in their history after a convincing victory over Japanese representative Kawasaki Frontale. Few would have guessed that, just 2 years ago, this team was playing in the second division of Saudi Arabia.

History also calls Roberto Firmino, Edouard Mendy and Riyad Mahrez, when they became the 3 rare players to win both the UEFA Champions League and the AFC Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo had the chance to create a miracle, but he and his teammates lost to Kawasaki in the semi-finals.

Al Ahli won the Asian championship after two defeats in the final.

The final match took place at the “fire pit” King Abdullah Sports City and was exciting. With a squad of many international stars, including famous names such as Mahrez, Firmino, Franck Kessie and goalkeeper Mendy, Al Ahli was highly rated and soon showed their superior strength.

After many missed opportunities, Matthias Jaissle's team finally made their advantage concrete in the 35th minute thanks to a moment of brilliance from Galeno. From 25 meters away, the Brazilian midfielder launched a dangerous curling shot into the top corner of the goal, giving goalkeeper Louis Yamaguchi no chance to block.

Just 7 minutes later, the advantage was doubled for Al Ahli when Firmino broke free and crossed accurately for Kessie to head in. The goal came at a time when Kawasaki had only 10 men on the field due to defender Sota Miura's injury, causing the Japanese team's defense to be disrupted.

Despite their efforts to fight back in the second half, Kawasaki Frontale were unable to break through Mendy's net. Substitutes Sai van Wermeskerken and Tatsuya Ito had their chances, but failed to capitalize.

On the other hand, Al Ahli played solidly, maintaining their advantage until the final whistle, thereby ending a perfect journey in this year's tournament.

Speaking after the match, goalkeeper Mendy could not hide his pride: "We have achieved our goal of winning the championship in front of our home fans. Since I arrived here, we have worked hard to bring Al Ahli back to the top and today is proof of that."

This championship helps Al Ahli become the third Saudi Arabian club to win the AFC Champions League, after Al Hilal and Al Ittihad.

Source: https://znews.vn/firmino-mahrez-thay-ronaldo-lam-nen-lich-su-post1550758.html