Sepahan 3-0 Al Nasr [VIDEO]

AFC – ESFAHAN, Albanian striker Xhevahir Sukaj scored twice as Iranian champions Sepahan kicked off their AFC Champions League Group C campaign in fine fashion with a 3-0 win over qualifiers Al Nasr of the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

Sukaj opened the scoring with a 22ndminute header and although he missed a host of chances after that, he helped make the result safe with his second goal nine minutes from time.

Omid Ebrahami added a third with four minutes remaining to seal a deserved victory for the home side after a dominant performance.

Sepahan pressed their opponents from the opening whistle and their efforts were rewarded midway through the first half. Mohammad Reza Khalatbari clipped a measured pass to the top of the Al Nasr box where Sukaj outjumped defender Ahmed Ali to meet the ball with a powerful header that gave goalkeeper Ahmed Shambieh little chance.

Sukaj should have added to his team’s lead but he was continually denied by Shambieh and his own profligate finishing as chance after chance went begging for the hosts.

It seemed only a matter of time before the hosts would get a second goal and it duly arrived in the 81st minute after a cleverly-worked corner routine.

Hossein Papi played a quick short corner to Khalatbari and the striker took the ball to the byline before sending in a low cross that Sukaj fired home from point-blank range.

With four minutes left, Ebrahami made it 3-0 to the home side with a well-taken finish. Khalatbari was once again the provider as he cut the ball back from the right flank into the danger area.

The ball was completely missed by Sukaj but it found Ebrahami , who fired home to complete the rout.

Al Nasr coach Walter Zenga admitted that Sepahan had deserved to win.

“I have no doubt that Sepahan deserved the victory,” said the Italian. “But despite the fact that they played better, I am disappointed that we conceded the second goal on a corner because they had almost no chance in the second half.”

“We had a couple of scoring chances in the first half but we didn’t play as we expected. Still it is too early to predict what will happen because there are stiil five more games remaining.

“We played better for 30 minutes in the second period and we didn’t give our opponents any chances. We may grab the win in our next match. Each match has its own special story.”

Sepahan coach Zelatko Kranjar was pleased with the attitude shown by his players.

“It was a good match,” he said. “We were dominant from the beginning and well organised. We scored three times but we also lost many chances. The players did precisely as we had requested them.

“We may have had some greater expectations of Al Nasr but we played too well that they were not able to catch up.”

Below come the goals from PFDC TV.