Ten men Sepahan bow out of Champions League

PFDC – JEDDAH, A ridiculous first half red card for Sepahan’s goalkeeper paved the way for a bitter quarterfinal exit for Sepahan, who lost 1-4 to Al Ahli after a goalless tie in the first leg.

Sepahan continued the impressive performance from Esfahan and created numerous good chances, the first and best already coming in the opening minute when Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari found himself one on one with the goalkeeper, but saw his effort denied by the keeper’s foot.

However, the decisive scene of the game occured after 27 minutes when Sepahan’s offside trap was beaten and goalkeeper Reza Mohammadi’s challenge to the striker was slightly late, with the Saudi Arabian more jumping over the keeper than actually being hit though.

The following penalty call was nevertheless an acceptable decision, but the red card for Mohammadi shown by the Australian referee Peter Green was plainly a present to the homeside.

Simoes converted the penalty against reserve keeper Mohammad Bagher Sadeghi and short time later a second goal followed, unfortunately after an unspotted foul by a Saudi attacker, who had clearly pushed down his marker during his header.

Sepahan pulled one back after a Hassan Ashjari freekick and a deflected Farshid Talebi effort, but only moments before halftime a blunder by Sadeghi allowed Al Ahli to restore the two-goal  lead.

The chanceless Iranians then conceded a final goal in second half to sadly bow out of the competition, despite having been the better team in the first leg and until the unjustified expulsion.