Mohammed Noor grabbed a hat-trick as five goals in the final 25 minutes of the first leg clash which saw the Saudi Arabian team down 10-man Nagoya at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium to virtually seal their place in the ACL final.

Nagoya defender Akira Takeuchi was sent off after just six minutes of the encounter for a professional foul but the Japanese side overcame the setback to twice take the lead through Kennedy and Naoshi Nakamura.

However, the visitors ran out of steam in the closing stages and Gabriel Calderon's side took full advantage to establish a healthy lead for the return leg in Nagoya next week.

After Igor Burzanovic had wasted an early chance, Nagoya was reduced to 10 men when Amine Chermiti outpaced Takeuchi as they chased a defence-splitting pass before the latter clipped the midfielder's heels just outside the box, resulting in an inevitable red card.

However, Nagoya stunned the hosts after 14 minutes when Kennedy met Hayuma Tanaka's cross six yards out and the Australian striker's powerful header from six yards gave keeper Mabrouk Zaid no chance.

Ahmed Hadid equalised for Al Ittihad in the 25th minute when he collected Noor's pass in the box and fired a shot across keeper Koichi Hirono and into the far corner.

Nakamura, though, restored Nagoya's lead eight minutes later when he showed good strength to hold off defender Saleh Al-Saqri, allowing the striker to turn and shoot past Zaid.

Noor almost drew Al Ittihad level for a second time in the 57th minute when the midfielder brought down a diagonal ball, twice turned a Nagoya defender only for his sidefoot finish to come back off the inside of the post.

The Al Ittihad skipper was not to be denied, though, and he equalised nine minutes later when Chermiti nodded Rashed Al Rahab's cross back across goal and Noor rose highest to head beyond a diving Hirono.

The hosts took the lead in the 76th minute when a scramble in the box ended with Shohei Abe blocking Noor's shot. The ball came back out to the midfielder and he lashed it into the top corner from 12 yards.

Nagoya was tiring rapidly and conceded a fourth when Hirono brought down substitute Felix Luciano in the box, although contact was minimal at best.

Nevertheless, the Argentinean found the bottom corner with the resulting penalty.

Noor completed his treble in injury time in unorthodox fashion as he met Chermiti's delightfully lofted cross with a sliding volley that again came back off the inside of the post. However, he managed to head in the rebound despite laying prone on the turf.

Chermiti then completed the scoring when he beat Hirono to a through ball and knocked it into an empty net.

Meanwhile, Hwang Jae-won and Kim Jae-sung headed Pohang Steelers into a commanding position following the first leg of the other ACL semi-final with Umm Salal at Pohang Steelyard.

Hwang glanced in the opener in first-half stoppage time and Kim Jae-sung nodded in a second with 11 minutes to go to seal a deserved victory for Pohang in a game it largely dominated throughout.