Iran’s Persepolis Outclassed by Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in ACL Semis

But Al Hilal did open the scoring on 31 minutes when Syrian forward Khribin popped up at the back post to head home Mohammed Al Burayk’s deep cross from the right.

Yasser Al Shahrani then doubled the advantage five minutes before the interval by drilling into the bottom right corner from 18 yards after good work from Salem Al Dawsari.

Persepolis was thrown a lifeline early in the second half, though, when Abdullah Otayf was dismissed for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.

However in the 54th minute, Khribin nipped in behind the Iranian backline to produce a neat finish for his second – and sixth of the tournament – after a lovely low ball from Al Dawsari on the right.

Ahmad Nourollahi could have pulled one back with 15 minutes to play but saw his effort saved by Abdullah Al Mayoof in the Al Hilal goal.

But the misery was not over for Persepolis as Khribin broke through its defense in the final minute to fire a fabulous low drive from 20 yards beyond Alireza Beiranvand to give the Iranian side a mountain to climb in Oman next month.