Doha: Nadir Belhadj scored his third goal in three consecutive AFC Champions League games to salvage a point for Al Sadd as the former champions shared an enthralling 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal on Wednesday. Talal Al Bloushi had put the home side in front on 25 minutes only to see a world class strike from Thiago Neves draw the sides level with virtually the final kick of the first half. The Brazilian then added a second to put the visitors in front on 56 minutes before Belhadj struck the equaliser five minutes past the hour mark. The Algerian’s goal keeps the Qatari side on top of Group D by virtue of superior goal difference after Emirati side Al Ahli joined them on five points after their win over Sepahan in Iran. At a raucous Sheik Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium that featured a large number of away supporters, the game began at a fast pace with Rodrigo Tabata going close to opening the scoring after just eight minutes when his side-footed shot inside the six-yard area went narrowly wide with goalkeeper Faiz Al Subaeiei rooted to the spot. The Al Hilal custodian, though, was not so fortunate on 25 minutes when his attempt to collect Khalfan Ibrahim’s shot went all wrong with the ball bouncing off his chest to be swept home by a very alert Al Bloushi. But while the opening goal will go down as a goalkeeping error, there was nothing Al Subaeiei’s opposite number could do about the equaliser from Thiago Neves on the stroke of half-time. From fully 30 yards out, the Al Hilal star curled home an immaculate left-footed free-kick that flew into the top left-hand corner past the despairing dive of Saad Al Sheeb for an early goal of the tournament contender. And 11 minutes into the second period he was celebrating a second as half-time substitute Salem Al Dawsari rolled the ball across the edge of the penalty area to the Brazilian, who unleashed a left-footed drive that the custodian was unable to keep out despite getting a hand to the ball. Just after the hour mark, Belhadj, who had netted against Sepahan and Al Ahli in the opening AFC Champions League fixtures, gave Al Hilal notice of his ability by racing onto a right-wing cross from Saleh Al Yazidi and rattling the opposite upright with a first-time shot. But it was a warning the visitors did not heed as just four minutes later in an almost carbon copy of the first opportunity, Tabata crossed from the right to Belhadj, again not picked up by the Saudi Arabian side’s defence, and this time he made no mistake with a side-footed shot into the corner past Al Subaeiei. In the final minutes of the game, substitute Yusef Ahmed went close for Al Sadd before Thiago Neves had a golden chance for a match-winning hat-trick as he tricked his way past Abdelkarim Hassan and Lee Jung-soo only to see his attempted shot from close-range smothered by Al Sheeb.