WESTERN Sydney Wanderers became the first A-League side to win the Asian Champions League this morning, but the historic triumph was marred by ugly scenes involving spitting and headbutting in a bitter aftermath.

A scoreless draw against Saudi Arabian heavyweight Al Hilal was enough to hand Tony Popovic’s side a famous victory in front of a capacity, boisterous crowd at King Fahd Stadium.

The Al Hilal players’ frustration boiled over as the final whistle sounded, with forward Nasser Al-Shamrani spitting at Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic.

Watch the spitting incident in the player above

A fight broke out between members of both sides before the players were eventually separated.

Spiranovic also claimed he was headbutted on a number of occasions, while the hero of the night — goalkeeper Ante Covic — had lasers constantly pointed at his eyes.

“I was marking their number 15 (Al-Shamrani) and he made contact with my face twice, the second time was a blatant headbutt,’’ said Sprinaovic.

“The referee and his assistant didn’t see it, that’s what they told me.’’

Spiranovic later confronted Al-Shamrani and that’s when the spitting incident took place.

“He was sitting on the ground and I was walking past and I let him know what I thought about his actions and he just spat at me,’’ said Spiranovic.

“Their coaches starting coming over and one of their assistants also spat which is disappointing, disgraceful really.’’

Popovic’s side withstood a procession of chances to complete a fairytale ride to the top of Asian football.

In just their third season of football, the Wanderers lifted the trophy 1-0 on aggregate after Tomi Juric’s goal earned them a home win at Parramatta in the first leg last weekend.

While Western Sydney deserve great credit for their defensive resilience, it was hard to make a case to wave away two penalty decisions either side of half time.

When Antony Golec stretched and found Nawaf Al-Abid rather than the ball, it seemed the roaring crowd would have their penalty. But the decision didn’t come, incensing Al Hilal boss Laurentiu Reghecampf.

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Japanese referee Nishimura Yuichi again kept his whistle from his lips on the hour when Covic clearly slid in on Salman Al Faraj.

The result felt like a robbery, with Covic and his defensive four standing tall to repel chance after chance.

The match quickly settled into a predictable pattern of Al Hilal possession and territory.

By design or otherwise, the Wanderers found themselves without and behind the ball, but they were tightly organised and able to prevent Al Hilal from finding dangerous outlets.

Al-Hilal’s best first half opportunities came from free kicks and through sheer weight of numbers after the break.

When Al Hilal’s forwards, led by Brazilian Thiago Neves, did have opportunities, too often they failed to test the 39-year-old gloveman.

That changed in the final quarter hour with Al Hilal streaming forward but finding Covic in unbeatable form.

In a vintage display, Covic’s best came with five minutes remaining, denying substitute Yasser Al Qahtani’s thunderous drive from ten metres with a stunning reflex save to turn it around the post.

That the Wanderers were able to grind out a result was made more impressive by the ferocious environment.

Lasers continually shone in Covic’s eyes, the crowd becoming more restless as the match wore on.

But Western Sydney held out, prevailing where the only other A-League team to make the ACL final, Adelaide United, could not.

The result is especially sweet for Popovic’s side, denied in two A-League grand finals on their first two attempts.

On the last whistle, both the winners and defeated slumped on the ground, drained of all energy.

That quickly gave way to a release of frustration, with rivals involved in late fisticuffs.

“To come such a long way in the short history of this club and win a title like this ... I’m so proud. Tonight is very special and it’s not going to be forgotten,” said Wanderers goalkeeper Covic, who was named player of the tournament.

A delighted Popovic said the game was everything you’d expect from a final.

“It was difficult, they’re a very good team, they had fantastic support,” he said.

“But as I said yesterday we’re an excellent team and we showed over two legs how good we are.”

— with AAP