Soccer-Al Hilal thwarted by Persepolis goalkeeper in ACL

May 20 (Reuters) - Last year's beaten finallists Al Hilal face early elimination from the Asian Champions League after they were beaten 1-0 by Iranian side Persepolis in the round of 16 first leg tie in Tehran on Tuesday. Al Hilal, who had Salman Al-Faraj sent off for a second bookable offence in the final minute of regular time, dominated the match in Tehran, where they also had a first half goal ruled out by Malaysian referee Mohamed Nagor Amir Noor. Brazilian central defender Digao scored an own goal deep into stoppage time to put the Saudi side on the back foot for the second leg at King Fahd Stadium. Persepolis goalkeeper Sousha Makani kept his side in the tie at a packed Azadi stadium where 100,000 fans watched the 28-year-old pull off several top-class saves. "We have had two big games in just four days," Persepolis coach Branko Ivanokovic said in reference to beating fierce local rivals Esteghlal 1-0 in the league last Friday. "Al Hilal were great and you saw all of the things I've told to you about this team. They were the best team in Asia last year and lost the final against Western Sydney Wanderers because of bad luck, but tonight my players were real heroes." Tunisian midfielder Youssef Msakni and Sebastian Soria gave Lekhiwya the advantage in their clash against fellow Qatari side Al Sadd with a 2-1 victory. Soria and Msakni had both scored by the 36th minute of a frenetic match in Doha before Hasan Al Haydos replied for Al Sadd, lifting the 13-times Qatari champions. Al Sadd spent much of the second half looking for an equaliser with a long-range shot from Hasan brushing the crossbar and former Guangzhou Evergrande forward Muriqui also shooting over. Hasan also had a last-gasp free-kick pushed onto the post by Lekhiwya goalkeeper Amine Lecomte. Msakni had two other gilt-edged opportunities to restore the two-goal cushion in the second half but hit the side-netting and then shot across goal The win was more than enough to gain some measure of revenge for a semi-final loss to Al Sadd in the domestic Emir Cup last week. The return match will be at Lekhiwya's Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium next Tuesday. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Nick Mulvenney)