Al Hilal will take a commanding lead into next week's Asian Champions League quarter-final second leg after defeating Al Ittihad 2-0 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The record four-time continental champions, runners-up last year, were comfortable winners in the all-Saudi Arabian encounter in the capital.
Former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and reigning Asian Player of the Year Salem Al Dawsari scored within two minutes of one another late in the first half to seal a comfortable first-leg victory.
#HILvITT 2-0 🔚
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) March 5, 2024
The end of the 1st leg of #ACL quarterfinal ⚽️
Well done Blues 👏🏻#AlHilal 💙 pic.twitter.com/pdfiYYgpo0
World Cup winner N'Golo Kante was sent off for Ittihad midway through the second half and will be suspended for the return match in Jeddah next Tuesday.
Ittihad, the current Saudi champions and themselves two-time Champions League winners, were already without captain Karim Benzema for the first leg. The 2022 Ballon d'Or winner, signed last summer from Real Madrid, was missing through injury.
Hilal, who top the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League by nine points, opened the scoring five minutes before half-time.
Captain Salman Al Faraj curled in a cross from the right, Madallah Al Olayan tussled with Mitrovic, and the referee judged the Ittihad defender had hauled down his Serbian rival.
Mitrovic converted from the spot, taking his tally for Hilal to 30 goals in 31 matches since his summer move from the Premier League.
Two minutes later, Hilal doubled their advantage. Ruben Neves sent Malcom down the right with a superb ball, before the Brazilian squared to Al Dawsari.
The Saudi Arabian winger swept home past Ittihad goalkeeper Abdullah Al Mayouf.
Ittihad's miserable night was complete just after the hour, when Kante was given a straight red for a late challenge on Kalidou Koulibaly, another former Chelsea player. Kante had initially been booked, only for the referee to overturn the decision following a VAR review.
The winner of the tie will contest the semifinal against either fellow Saudi side Al Nassr or Al Ain of the UAE.
Al Ain, 2003 Asian champions, defeated Cristiano Ronaldo's Nassr 1-0 at home in their first leg on Monday.
ULSAN LEAVE IT LATE
Earlier on Tuesday, Ulsan fought back in the second half to claim a 1-1 draw with South Korean rivals Jeonbuk Motors in the first leg of their last-eight tie.
Song Min-kyu gave Jeonbuk a fourth-minute lead at their Jeonju World Cup Stadium before Brazilian Tiago Orobo fluffed a chance to double their lead when he crashed a penalty against the crossbar.
Ulsan, domestic K-League champions for the past two seasons, looked out of ideas in the first half but they came roaring back after the break and Lee Myung-jae grabbed an equaliser in the 77th minute.
The two teams will meet again in next week's second leg, with the winner going on to face either China's Shandong Taishan or Japan's Yokohama F-Marinos in the semi-finals.
Ulsan and Jeonbuk have shared the last seven K-League titles but it was Jeonbuk who dominated the first half.
Dan Petrescu's side took advantage of some sloppy defending to open the scoring with the game just minutes old.
Lee Dong-jun raced down the wing before delivering a cross that Song tucked home with minimal resistance from the Ulsan defence.
Jeonbuk had the chance to add a second midway through the first half when the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Lee Myung-jae had brought down Lee Dong-jun charging into the box.
But Orobo smashed his kick against the crossbar with South Korean international goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo beaten.
Um Won-sang thrashed a shot into the side-netting with a rare first-half chance for Ulsan just seconds before the interval.
Hwang Seok-ho then went close with a header from a corner five minutes into the second half as Ulsan began to find their rhythm.
Hong Myung-bo's side scored their equaliser when Jeonbuk's Jeong Tae-wook gave the ball away to Lee in his own penalty area.
Lee calmly shimmied past Kim Tae-hwan before slotting it into the net.
Shandong host Yokohama in the first leg of their quarterfinal in China on Wednesday.