Al Shabab 1-0 Tractorsazi

AFC – RIYADH, A well-executed first-half volley by Nassir Al Shamrani proved to be the difference as Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia edged Iranian side Tractorsazi Tabriz 1-0 at the King Fahd International Stadium on Tuesday to move three points clear at the top of Group A in the AFC Champions League.

Al Shamrani got the decisive goal in the 29th minute when he ran into the Tractorsazi box to get on the end of Marcelo Camacho’s chipped pass.

The Iranian side battled gamely to get back into the game in the second half but they were denied a point when goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah made a fine save to deny Flavio Paixão late on.

With the victory, Al Shabab maintained their unbeaten record in the group and moved up to seven points, three ahead of Tractorsazi and Qatar’s El Jaish, who beat Al Jazira of the United Arab Emirates 3-1 in the other Group A match on Tuesday.

“We had a big game tonight. We created many chances but football is not fair as we could have scored more than one goal but at the end of the day we achieved what was important for us which is to get the three points,” said Al Shabab coach Michel Preud’homme.

“We knew that we would be under pressure from our opponents who tried to mark out Camacho. However, we managed to change the plan throughout the game and he was good today and created the only goal in the game.”

Both sides took their time to settle into the match and there were few real opportunities in the opening half-hour. Al Shamrani saw his chip into the net ruled out for offside and he then had a penalty appeal turned down when he appeared to be clipped by Mehdi Sabeti as he tried to round the Tractorsazi goalkeeper.

But the Al Shabab striker would open the scoring in the 29th minute with a fine finish. Camacho brought the ball into the Tractorsazi half before he neatly chipped it over the defence to a lurking Al Shamrani who volleyed the ball past Sabeti.

The hosts had chances to add a second before the break as Camacho curled a free-kick just wide and Hassan Muath saw his header saved by Sabeti before he thumped a shot from a narrow angle against the far upright.

Tractorsazi rarely threatened before half-time but they came more into the match after the break as they pressed for an equaliser.

They nearly got their reward with 20 minutes left when Flavio Paixão attempted to hook a shot on target only to be denied by a brilliant save by Abdullah.

“It’s a disappointing defeat as it was the first loss for us in the competition,” said Tractor Sazi coach Antonio Oliveira.

“We had a good game but our opponents were good and they didn’t give us a chance to control the game and create many chances.

“We tried our best to get a good result but Al Shabab achieved what they wanted and got a victory. However, we will try our best to organise the team and hopefully we can make a good comeback in the next matches.”