Al Ahli take point at Esteghlal to inch closer to the knockouts

Matt Jones - Editor 23:43 25/04/2017
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  • Ahli are on the brink of qualification.

    Neither the vociferous home fans nor the damp weather seemed to affect the Red Knights as they bossed the first-half and opened the scoring slickly via the most unlikely of sources – right-back Abdelaziz Haikal.

    But the hosts roared back in the second-half and equalised just before the hour mark through towering striker Kaveh Rezaei.

    Alireza Mansourian’s hosts started brightly by dominating possession but could not break down the rigid Red Knights and the visitors took the lead stylishly in the 17th minute.

    Brazilian schemer Everton Ribeiro chipped over the blue wall of the home defence to Makhete Diop and his perfectly weighted header fell into the path of the onrushing Haikal whose adroit side-footed finish silenced the Azadi.

    Going behind seemed to kick the home side into life though and after Rezaei went down dramatically, they went close when a partially cleared corner fell to Vouria Ghafouri but his shot flew harmlessly over.

    Rezaei was felled easily under minimal contact from Salmin Khamis, who surprisingly escaped punishment considering the award of a free-kick. He and Ahli were let off once more when Nasser palmed away Yaghoub Karimi’s subsequent free-kick.

    Brazilian defender Leandro Padovani didn’t avoid the book when he lunged in on Ribeiro on the edge of the box, but Ahmed Khalil’s effort was woeful.

    Mansourian’s men stepped it up after the break and levelled in the 58th minute through that man Rezaei.

    A quick throw released Khosro Heydari whose hopeful lobbed cross was headed home by Rezaei who got in between two markers.

    Ismail Al Hammadi’s snap-shot was gathered by Mehdi Rahmati as Ahli responded before Esteghlal were denied when Nasser raced out to deny Rezaei.

    The hosts looked the more likely team to find a winner, although the game dripped towards a dour conclusion to leave both sides on eight points, three ahead of Al Taawon and Lokomotiv Tashkent with one more round of fixtures to come.

    Elsewhere, Al Jazira’s thoroughly wretched Champions League campaign continued as they suffered a fourth defeat from five games in Asia.

    The hosts took the lead at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium through Mbark Boussoufa’s penalty, only for South Korea international Nam Tae-hee to equalise for Qatari champions Lekhwiya with his own spot kick.

    He edged the visitors in front just past the hour and Youssef Msakni put Lekhwiya on the verge of making the knockout stages when he made it 3-1.

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