Win revives our chances: Ghalehnoi

AFC – ABU DHABI, Esteghlal coach Amir Ghalehnoi says his two-time Asian champions have revived their chances of making it through to this year’s knockout stage after they ended their winless run on the continent with a narrow 1-0 victory against Al Jazira on Wednesday.

A goal from Mohammad Ghazi was enough for the Iran champions to edge past Emirati side Al Jazira in their Group A encounter at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium against their previously unbeaten hosts.

With Saudi Arabian side Al Shabab defeating Al Rayyan 2-0 in Doha to leapfrog Al Jazira into top spot, and Esteghlal now three points behind the United Arab Emirates team in third, there is still all to play for in Matchday Five in a fortnight’s time.

“When we play under big pressure, we achieve good results and this is what I expected before the match. I’m happy with the win because we have revived our chances to advance to the knockout stage of the competition,” said coach Ghalehnoi.

“The match was good from the two teams as Al Jazira were the better side in the first half and they created some chances which we dealt with very well. In the second period, we were better and we scored thanks to the experience of our players.”

Al Jazira knew that a victory at home would put them within touching distance of the knockout stage and their coach Walter Zenga bemoaned their profligacy in front of goal in the first half.

“We missed the chance to win the match in the first half and if you don’t score from easy chances, then you will lose. We tried our best to have a better performance in the second half but Esteghlal managed to score,” said coach Zenga.

“The players were tired and they didn’t know how to deal with the quick counter attacks of our opponents. We were not at our best today but we still have a chance in the competition as we will be playing the last match at home.”