Al-Ittihad secured a comfortable 4:1 victory over Al-Jazira in the first preliminary round of the AFC Champions League on Monday evening. The away side took control early and never looked back, with Steven Bergwijn opening the scoring before adding a second before half-time. Al-Jazira pulled one back late on, but the result had long been decided.
Bergwijn made his presence felt from the first whistle, firing home in the twelfth minute to give the visitors an early lead. He doubled his tally in the thirty-eighth, and by then Al-Jazira had already seen two players booked. The hosts pressed for a response but could find the net only after the break, when Simon Banza headed in a consolation in the eightieth minute.
Al-Ittihad made it three in the fifty-fourth through Hussein Aouar, who found space in the box to slot home. The visitors added a fourth in the sixty-ninth when M. Al Sahafi finished from close range. Al-Jazira continued to create chances, but their finishing lacked the precision that Al-Ittihad showed throughout the ninety minutes.
The statistics tell their own story. Al-Jazira registered ten shots with seven on target, yet managed only one goal. Al-Ittihad had four shots, all on target, and converted each one. Both sides shared possession evenly at fifty percent, but the visitors were far more clinical in their approach.
The result ends Al-Jazira's hopes of progressing at this stage, while Al-Ittihad move forward with confidence. The hosts have not won since their last competitive fixture, and this defeat adds to their growing concerns ahead of deeper stages of the competition.