Al Hilal (KSA) 3-0 Ittihad of Alexandria (EGY) | Match Highlights

Ittihad of Alexandria, the only Egyptian club left in the Arab Zayed Cup, are on the brink of waving goodbye to the competition after suffering a 3-0 defeat at Saudi Arabia giants Al Hilal in the first leg of the quarter-final on Saturday.

Brazilian forward Carlos Eduardo needed 14 minutes to open the scoring in superb fashion, flicking the ball over his challenger and firing home with an acrobatic effort.

Former France striker Bafetimbi Gomis then stole the show with a double salvo as Ittihad’s porous defence was exposed far too easily, underlining the gulf in class between both sides.

Gomis was left unmarked to send an angled volley into the far corner in the 31st minute before completing the rout five minutes before the break with a side-footed effort.

Ittihad caused two upsets by eliminating Tunisia’s Esperance and Egyptian giants Zamalek to book a last-eight berth but they will face an uphill climb this time around to overturn the deficit against Al Hilal in the second leg in Alexandria.

Egyptian trio Ahly, Zamalek and Ismaily were eliminated at the last-16 stage.