Darwin Nunez scores his first goal at Al Hilal's debut, the Saudi Arabian Mohamed Kanno makes a brace.
Match Report
Al-Hilal's away game was a unique one. Brügglifeld's ticket was sold out with 8,450 spectators. The Saudi record champions – currently at training camp in Donauschingen – showed up in Aarau with their stars, to the delight of the mostly young crowd.
In contrast, Aarau did not field any of their regular players, who had beaten Neuchâtel Xamax 2-0 just 24 hours earlier. In the present, Aarau found the net twice in the first game against the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinalists, but were still 3-0 down at halftime, as both Victor Petit (21') and Mamadou Fofana (39') unluckily fired into their own net after corner kicks. In between, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic also scored with a header (24') following another corner from Ruben Neves, giving head coach Simone Inzaghi's World Cup team a comfortable lead.
Aarau's young defense, featuring players like Berdan Senyurt (18') and Gian Vogt (16'), held firm in the second half, but substitute Mohamed Kanno still scored twice (50'/65') for the Arab crescent (with the experience of 1,855 appearances in top-five leagues in his squad), while Amr Khaled shot over the bar from a central position (64'). The final goal on this peaceful, sunny evening was reserved for Darwin Nunez, who had only just signed from Liverpool the previous day, completing the half-dozen for the four-time AFC Champions League winners with a powerful finish (87').
Line-ups
Aarau XI: Bobadilla, Andreas Hirzel, Mamadou Fofana, Victor Petit, Henri Koide, Silvan Schwegler, Ramon Guzzo, Leon Frokaj, Noah Jakob, gian vogt, Berdan Senyurt
Subs: Marco Thaler, Linus Obexer, Serge Müller, Esey Gebreyesus, Nassim Zoukit, Ryan Kessler, Dorian Derbaci, Amr Khaled
Al Hilal XI: Koulibaly, Cancelo, Bounou, Salem Al Dawsari, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, Theo, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Hassan Tambakti, Abdullah Al-Hamdan
Subs: Mohammed Kanoo, Lodi, Abdulelah Al-Malki, Ali Lajami, Mohammed Al-Yami, Nunez, Khalifah Al-Dawsari, Hamad Al-Yami, Abdullah Radif, Abdullah Zaid, Kaio César, Ahmad Aburasyin