The striker missed out on becoming the first Aussie in a dozen years to win the continental title in Jeddah on Saturday after getting embroiled in a second-half tete-a-tete with Al-Ahli's Zakaria Hawsawi, who was red-carded for reaching up and butting his taller adversary in the jaw right in front of the referee.Â
The former Newcastle Jets attacker slumped to the ground and avoided any disciplinary action for his part in the dust-up, but Saudi international Zakaria was sent off, leaving Al-Ahli down to 10 men with still 22 minutes left.
Cheered on by a partisan 60,000 home crowd, Al-Ahli still managed to successfully defend their crown against the first-time finalists Machida thanks to an extra-time goal from Saudi international striker Firas Al-Burikan.
Een krankzinnige kopstoot in de AFC Champions League-finale🤯 pic.twitter.com/c8AgUUKTrv— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) April 25, 2026
Despite playing for nearly an hour with an extra man, Machida couldn't make their advantage count.
It was a huge disappointment for Yengi, who had been in line to be the first Aussie to earn a winners' medal since the Western Sydney Wanderers won the continental crown back in 2014.
The 25-year-old Yengi had gone on loan to Japan from struggling Scottish club Livingston in January and had been hoping to go one better than Alex Grant, who was the last Aussie to play in the final in 2021, when his South Korean side Pohang Steelers lost to Al-Hilal.Â
Instead, though, it was the lucratively backed Saudis, featuring big names like Algerian Riyad Mahrez, Ivorian Franck Kessie and England's Ivan Toney, who managed to soak up the pressure and snatch the win.
"It's amazing," said Mahrez, who also won the UEFA Champions League with Manchester City in 2023.Â
"It was difficult for us again. We like to make it difficult for ourselves. Ten against 11 is nearly impossible, I don't know how we found the strength and the energy ... After the red card we stuck together, we fought more, we ran more until we scored."
After the sending-off, Machida had begun to take the initiative, with Al-Ahli goalkeeper Edouard Mendy forced into several saves, and with tempers flaring, normal time ended with Al-Ahli substitute Mohammed Abdulrahman also shown a red card on the sidelines.
The deadlock was finally broken in the sixth minute of extra time when former Barcelona and AC Milan midfielder Kessie laid the ball off for Al-Burikan to fire high into the net from close range.
Al-Ahli became the first team to win back-to-back Asian titles since city rival Al-Ittihad in 2005.
With agencies
