Naft Erase Title Disappointment With Important Win in ACL

Eurosport – TEHRAN, Iran forward Gholamreza Rezaei erased any despair Naft Tehran had of missing their first Persian Gulf Pro League title last week with a 1-0 victory over Al-Ahli in the Asian Champions League round of 16 first leg clash on Wednesday.

Naft were pipped for their first Iranian league title last Friday when they battled back from a two-goal deficit to snatch a 3-3 draw with Tractor Sazi but lost the title to Sepahan, who leapfrogged both Naft and Tractor with a 2-0 win over Sapia.

Rezaei, however, went a little way to erasing those memories when he finished off a strong surge from midfielder Hossein Ebrahimi in the 34th minute of the clash at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

The home side dominated against the Saudis but were unable to convert their numerous chances with Rezaei dragging his shot wide in the 65th minute, just after Al-Ahli goalkeeper Abdullah Al Muaiouf had thwarted Saeid Lotfi.

Al Muaiouf ensured his side were still alive in the tie with the second leg in Jeddah next week when he pushed a curling free-kick from Iman Mobali onto the post with 12 minutes remaining, something Naft coach Alireza Mansourian was aware of.

“I’m happy with the result but not my players’ performance in the second half,” Mansourian told the AFC website. “Iman Mobali and Arsalan Motahari should have converted their chances so we could go to (Jeddah) with more goals.”