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Al-Hilal began the game both energetic and enthusiastic to win the first leg of the final and this was explicitly seen by the long-range ball by Salam Alfaraj and a spectacular cross by Abdulla Zori Aldossary, which ended up being both off target and saved by Wanderers keeper Ante Covic.
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Both teams, especially Al-Hilal, within the opening 15 minutes had a variety of chances that simply weren’t finished with Thiago Neves even attempting to open the goal scoring drought, but his attempt flew completely over the net.
As the first half progressed there was definitely an increasing desire for both teams to score and in the Western Sydney Wanderers case, maintain a clean sheet at home.
A long shot from Salman Alfaraj forced Covic to implement his new modern-day sweeper keeper techniques punching the ball out and far away from any Al Hilal attackers.
The first yellow card for the evening was given to Mateo Poljak in the 31st minute that saw an Al Hilal player dramatically rolling around on the ground.
Injury fears struck the team from Western Sydney moments later with Brendon Santalab suffering a severe shoulder injury, which almost looked as if his shoulder had popped out, that saw him momentarily leave the field.
Once returning to the field Santalab managed to immediately receive a yellow card for knocking another player over, with the referee generally missing many of the pushes and shoves from both teams to maintain the flow of the game.
With an additional two minutes of extra time in the first half, the goalless stalemate continued with a sense of determination clouding over the stadium to get the job done.
Al-Hilal began the second half very similarly to the first, coming out with large amounts of energy in attempts to try and get the ball into the back of net that consequently ended up in their keeper Abdullah Mohammed S Alsdairy receiving a yellow card due a predicament with Wanderer Shannon Cole.
Wanderers player Antony Golec on the other hand, demonstrated some great overlapping techniques on the left wing enabling the Wanderers to press further forward, pushing people off his chest as they ran into him.
Al-Hilal’s Neves almost scored striking a ball which rolled on the ground and swerved between the Wanderers defences legs. Yet, Covic predicted the shot and it went straight into his arms and followed with the first subsitution of the final, with the Wanderers taking off Santalab and bringing on crowd-favourite Tomi Juric, who recently recovered from a groin injury.
In the 64th minute, the stalemate broke after a spectacular cross by Golec that enabled Juric to slide the ball roughly into the back of the net; the Wanderers were now leading 1-0.
With the Wanderers ahead on the field, tensions between the two sides became paramount. Kwak Taehwi from Al-Hilal pushed Juric into the ground, which enabled a free kick for the Wanderers.
This saw Cole pass it to Golec to retry the magic from before, but failed.
Al-Hilal continued to press with the Wanderers defensive scrambling in the 71st minute, barely clearing the ball off the line due to Al-Hilal continuous speed and force into goal-scoring territory.
Juric almost scored again for the Western Sydney Wanderers, taking on three defenders and sending a powerful strike that rebounded off the goal post that seconds later enabled Salm Alfaraj make an impressive counter attack.
The final yellow card was given to Neves in the 74th minute after knocking a Wanderers player down and this saw the Wanderers make another change to their line-up with Mateo Poljak coming off for Matthew Spiranovic.
Yasir Alshahrani executed a curved shot from the side which was great tactically but Covic denied the Saudi Arabian squad from scoring once more.
Wanderer Daniel Mullen almost scored for the opposition as Ante Covic was outside of the box and his decision to clear the ball with a header almost scored for Al Hilal, certainly putting the stands on the edge of their seats.
Al-Hilal made their first changes with Nawaf Shaker F Alabid coming on and Salman Alfaraj coming off making changes in their midfield.
Mark Bridge similarly replicated Alshrani trying to curve the ball into the back of the net, but this was saved by Al Hilal keeper S Dairy.
The final change by the Wanderers saw Shannon Cole coming off for cult-figure Vitor Saba in the 83rd minute which gave the Wanderers the final ammunition and energy to secure their defeat over Al Hilal.
Goalkeeper Covic was forced to make some spectacular saves during the final 10 minutes of play and four minutes of extra time and without question was in his career-best form during the final.
Al-Hilal made their final substitution in the final moments of the 92nd minute which saw defender Abdulla Zori Aldossary coming off for attacker Youssef Alsalem, explicitly demonstrating their desire to change the final outcome of the game in the minimal time left.
In the 94th minute, Al-Hilal won a free kick that pushed the noise in the stands to a roar with everyone standing and waiting to see what would eventuate from this ball, and if it would change the score in final seconds of the first leg of the Champions League final.
Thankfully for the Wanderers, nothing eventuated from the ball and the final whistle was blown signifying Al Hilal’s defeat in the Wanderers fortress in the first leg of the AFC Champions League Final.
The next time these two squads will meet is in the final away leg on Saturday 1st of November.
Western Sydney Wanderers starting XI: Labinot HALITI (C), Shannon COLE, Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, Mateo POLJAK, Brendon SANTALAB, Brendan HAMILL, Iacopo LA ROCCA, Mark BRIDGE, Daniel MULLEN, Antony GOLEC and Ante COVIC (GK).
Western Sydney Wanderers substitutes: Tomi JURIC, Vitor SABA, Matthew SPIRANOVIC, Kwabena APPIAH, Jason TRIFIRO, Daniel ALESSI and Dean BOUZANIS (GK).
Al-Hilal starting XI: Saud KARIRI (C), Abdullah ZORI ALDOSSARY, Thiago NEVES, Yasir ALSHAHRANI, Salman ALFARAJ, Nassir ALSHAMRANI, Kwak TAEHWI, Doru Mihai PINTILII, DIGAO, Salem MOHAMMED S ALDAWSARI and Abdullah MOHAMMED S ALSDAIRY (GK).
Al-Hilal substitutes: Mohammed ALQARNI, Hamah ALHAMAD, Mohammed AL SHALHOUB, Yousef ALSALEM, Nawaf SHAKER F ALABID, Sultan ABDULLAH ALDUAYYI and Fahad MOHAMMED A ALTHUNAYYAN.