Sepahan winger Ramin Rezaeian scored in the 37th minute of the game held at the Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan.
Al Hilal drew level 12 minutes into the second half. Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first shot of the game was well saved by Payam Niazmand, but he pushed it into Malcom’s path and the Brazilian was able to squeeze the ball home from close range.
In the 75th minute, VAR intervened and the referee brandished a red card to Mohammad Daneshgar for a late tackle which caught Abdullah Al Hamdan high on his shin.
Right at the death, Abdulhamid’s clever cross into the area found Mitrovic, whose towering header in the 94th minute got the better of Niazmand and found the bottom corner to claim the win for the guest.
With Sepahan shell shocked, Al Hilal made it 3-1 when Al Dawsari played Abdullah Al Hamdan through the middle who poked home to take a two goal advantage into the reverse leg.
The second leg between Sepahan and Al Hilal will take place on February 22 in Riyadh.