Sepahan 2-4 Al Ahli

AFC – ESFAHAN, Victor Simoes scored two goals as Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia recovered from the shock of conceding an early goal to stun Iranian champions Sepahan 4-2 at the Foolad Shahr Stadium on Tuesday to maintain their perfect record in Group C of the AFC Champions League.

Zhevahir Sukaj gave the home side the perfect start when he opened the scoring after only three minutes but Al Ahli hit back with goals by Victor Simoes (Victor Simões de Oliveira) and Bruno Cesar to take the lead before half-time.

Amad Al Hosni extended the advantage for the visitors within a minute of the resumption and Victor Simoes then netted his second of the game before Farshid Talebi grabbed a late consolation for the home side.

With their victory, the 2012 AFC Champions League runners-up remained at the top of their group with a maximum nine points, three ahead of Al Gharafa, who beat Al Nasr 4-2 in the group’s other game on Tuesday.

“We had a tough match against Sepahan as we had predicted,” said Al Ahli coach Aleksander Ilic. “Our opponents played well in the first 10 minutes, but after that we became dominant throughout the match.

“The physical strength of the Sepahan players went down in the second half and we took a full advantage from that to gain victory. We knew that Sepahan had played three days ago against Esteghlal in a hard encounter and we also knew that they were going to have issues with their physical fitness.

“But I respect Sepahan and I believe that they will play a better football in Jeddah,” he added.
Sepahan were looking to avenge a 4-1 aggregate defeat to the Saudi club in last year’s quarter-finals and they got off to an excellent start as Sukaj struck with his third goal of the tournament.

Amin Jahanalian made a run across the edge of the Al Ahli box and fed the ball to the Albanian striker who had his back to goal but spun and fired into the back of the Al Ahli net with his left foot.

Despite the early setback, the visitors gradually got a foothold in the game and Jairo Palomino and Bruno Cesar both went close before they got back on level terms midway through the half.

Bruno Cesar relayed a quick pass to his right to an overlapping Victor Simoes who outpaced the Sepahan defence before sliding the ball past goalkeeper Shahab Gordan into the far corner of the net.

Both teams continued to press for goals and it was the visitors who took the lead in the 39th minute. Bruno Cesar received the ball from Victor Simoes in the middle of the Sepahan half and he ran towards the box, wrong-footed Talebi and Ehsan Haji Safi with a drag-back before he fired home a left-footed shot.

The home fans were stunned but there would be worse to follow as Al Ahli extended their lead just 50 seconds into the second half.

A long ball from the Al Ahli half caught out the Sepahan defence and Amad Al Hosni beat the offside trap before stabbing the ball past an advancing Gordan with the outside of his right boot.

Mohammad Reza Khalatbari squandered a great chance to cut the deficit when he blazed over after running on to a through ball by Moharram Navidkia.

Victor Simoes then put the result beyond Sepahan’s reach in the 65th minute when he ran on to a through ball by Taisir Al Jassim and rounded Gordan before tucking the ball into the net.

Sepahan would pull a goal back with three minutes left when Talebi headed in Hossein Papi’s cross but it was nothing more than a consolation for the well-beaten Iranian side.

Sepahan coach Zlatko Krancjar felt that the exertions of his side in their penalty shootout win over Esteghlal in the Hazfi Cup semi-finals last weekend ultimately caught up with them.

“After playing 120 minutes in a tough game against Esteghlal, my players were completely depleted of energy,” said the Croatian.

“In fact the result of tonight’s match was already known after last Saturday’s game. My players were too fatigued and unfortunately, this will also affect us in our league games as well.

“I apologise to all our fans for the defeat which came in our own stadium on a holiday. We had hoped to make them happy but we could not. I hope that we get back to winning ways soon with their support and hope.”