The J-League's Urawa Reds took a step toward their second Asian championship and their first in 10 years with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the final at Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal on Saturday.

Reds' Rafael Silva opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Finding space when a defender fell in midfield, he dashed around the defense. When his cross was blocked in front of the goal and rolled uncontrolled into the penalty area, Silva poked it home past several defenders. It was his eighth goal of this year's competition.

From the start, Reds seemed content to play the game in their half, rarely maintained possession and conceded numerous scoring opportunities to the Saudi side, who equalized through star center forward Omar Khribin in the 38th minute.

Although Reds central defenders Tomoaki Makino and captain Yuki Abe took it in turn to tightly mark the tall striker, the frequency and intensity of Al Hilal's attacks made shutting him down impossible.

A cross from right back Mohammed Al-Burayk went to Salem Al Dawsari in the center of the penalty area, and with several defenders attending to him, Abe was left alone on Khribin. Al Dawsari tapped the ball to his teammate, who starting with his back to the goal rounded Abe and fired home.

The goal was his competition-best 10th goal, although he came close to a few more and Reds needed all their energy and luck to scrape out a draw in a game in which they took no corners but conceded eight and were outshot 20-6. The second leg is next Saturday at Saitama Stadium.

"Now it's all down to the next game, we win that and we're champions," Abe said. "We strived today to prevent them from scoring. We have some momentum now. We've seen what they're like and we'll be prepared for them at Saitama Stadium."

Al Hilal looked to stamp their physicality on the match from the outset but picked up five yellow cards in the process -- the first thanks to a theatrical flop from Silva. After the first goal, the diving only increased with Reds' Tomoya Ugajin booked when his foot brushed an opponent who fell writhing on the pitch. Holding and jostling became the norm as the referee appeared momentarily in danger of losing control.

The game appeared to calm down after 30 minutes, but Reds defense-first approach limited them to sorties, such as the one that produced Silva's goal, but no substantial pressure. A few minutes into the second half, however, Reds head coach Takafumi Mori's charges opened up the attack and the game took on a different complexion.

Reds suffered a blow when Silva, their sole consistent offensive threat, was carted off the pitch just after the hour. But the balanced effort persisted and the Reds players appeared more motivated and creative by being set loose.

However, as Reds asserted their game, the hosts once more resorted to intimidation tactics and several ugly incidents ensued with kicks delivered and elbows thrown.

Although Al Hilal have never won the Asian Champions League, they were two-time winners of the competition's predecessor, the Asian Club Championship.