Ghalenoei blames bad luck

AFC – Tehran, Coach Amir Ghalenoei was disappointed by Esteghlal’s performance in their 2-2 draw with Al Jazira in their AFC Champions League Group A clash on Tuesday despite the Iranian champions twice coming from behind to draw level at the Azadi Stadium.

Al Jazira midfielder Abdelaziz Barrada netted early in each half to twice give the Emirati side the lead but they were pegged back shortly after on both occasions by headers from first Mohammad Ghazi and then Hanif Omranzadeh.

Although the result gives last year’s semi-finalists Esteghlal their first point of the campaign, defeats by both Al Shabab and Al Rayyan in their opening fixtures leave them with plenty of work to do as they remain rooted to the bottom of Group A.

“We got a point at home, but it’s not enough for us. If we wanted to have a better position in the table, we should have won the game tonight,” said coach Ghalenoei (pictured).

“We have been very unlucky in this year’s competition. We seem to have a lot of difficulty scoring but concede easily. Al Jazira had three opportunities and scored twice, but we had so many more chances but could only score two goals as well.

“I believe my players tried their best, but I regret the mistakes our defenders made and all the chances we missed during the match.”

And despite giving up their 100% record in the tournament, Al Jazira coach Walter Zenga was pleased with the performances throughout with the point ensuring his side remains top of the group.

“It was a very good game and I would like to give congratulations to my players, they played absolutely without fear and they could have come out victorious. We played well in front and also played well in defence. I don’t think we had any problems back there,” said Zenga.

However, the Italian warned his players not to get complacent, with only a point separating them from second placed Al Shabab from Saudi Arabia, who defeated Al Rayyan 4-3 in the day’s later game.

“We are in a great group with fantastic teams. And although we have played against all of them, we’re just halfway through our mission,” added Zenga.

“We haven’t done anything yet since we have to play against all these teams again and try to achieve what we want.”