Zob Ahan 4-1 Al Nasr

AFC – ESFAHAN, Two goals in the opening five minutes helped Zob Ahan to a convincing 4-1 win over Al Nassr at the Foolad Shahr and book their place in the quarter-finals of the 2011 AFC Champions League.

Woeful defending allowed Mohammad Ghazi to score after just 28 seconds and the Al Nassr backline did not cover themselves in glory five minutes later when Igor Castro was allowed to head home the second from a corner.

Castro scored his second of the game with a powerful finish in the 64th minute before a mental lapse by Zob Ahan keeper Shahab Gordan gifted Bader Al Motawaa a goal three minutes later.

However, a superb 30-yard strike from Shaahin Kheiri 16 minutes from the end extinguished any hopes of an Al Nassr comeback and the Saudis also had Hussain Sulaimani sent-off on the stroke of full time.

Zob Ahan, last year’s finalists, got off to a fantastic start.

Following the kick-off, Mohammad Reza Khalatbari beat a couple of men before feeding Ghazi. The forward waltzed around three half-hearted challenges in the box before slotting the ball past keeper Abdullah Al Enezi into the corner.

Khalatbari was again involved in the second goal as his corner was missed by defender Abdu Bakr Barnawi allowing an unmarked Castro to head home at the back post.

Ghazi almost netted a third for Zob Ahan in the ninth minute but Al Enezi did well to parry his powerful shot at the near post. From Khalatbari’s corner, Mohammad Hosseini flashed a header just wide.

Motawaa side-footed wide from just outside the box and Ghazi nodded Khalatbari’s cross wide before the game settled down following a frenetic start.

Castro should have made it 3-0 just after the half-hour when a long ball over the top was misjudged by an Al Nassr defender but his first-time finish was just the wrong side of the far post with Al Enezi stranded.

Farshid Talebi then headed another Khalatbari cross wide as Zob Ahan finished on top.

Ghazi again saw a header fly off target after an hour before Castro extended Zob Ahan’s lead four minutes later when he drilled home from inside box after he was afforded time and space by the Al Nassr defence.

The Saudis pulled a goal back three minutes later when an innocuous ball over the top prompted Gordan to charge out of the area and allow Motawaa to round the keeper and knock the ball into the empty net.

Kheiri then netted the pick of the goals when he unleashed a drive from 30-yards that flew into the top corner and left Al Enzi no chance to extinguish any notion of a comeback by the visitors.

The Al Nassr keeper was subsequently forced off injured and their misery was complete on the stroke of full time when Sulaimani saw red for a hack at a Zob Ahan player.