Defence Gets Thumbs-Up From Mansourian as ACL Newcomers March On

AFC – JEDDAH, Naft Tehran coach Alireza Mansourian claimed his side’s solid defensive performance in the first leg was the key to advancing to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League for the first time with an away goal win over Al Ahli on Wednesday.

The Iranians lost 2-1 on the night at Jeddah’s imposing King Abdullah Sports City, but their 1-0 win in Tehran last week was the foundation upon which the club’s progress was build.

“The most important thing is that we didn’t concede any goals in the first leg and this made things easier for us,” said the former Iran international midfielder (pictured).

“This forced our opponents to play with an attacking performance and they left some spaces in the back.”

Naft capitalized on Al Ahli’s determination to attack in the 32nd minute when Padovani (Leandro Padovani Celin) scored the all-important away goal that ultimately took the Iranians into the next phase.

The Brazilian steered his side-footed volley past Abdullah Al Muaiouf before Al Soma netted twice in the dying minutes of the half to put Naft under immense pressure.

Vahid Amiry hit the post for the Iranians in the second half while Al Soma missed out on a hat-trick when his free kick came back off the crossbar, ensuring Naft progressed and leave Mansourian delighted.

“I want to congratulate my players for the great achievement as we defeated a strong team who didn’t lose any matches in the group stage and their first defeat in the competition was against us in the first leg,” he said.

“We came to Saudi Arabia with great ambition as we wanted to qualify for the next round. We planned to score an early goal which would affect our opponents and we successfully scored an important goal.”

The win means ACL newcomers Naft Tehran join Qatar’s Lekhwiya, Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia and Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates in the western half of the draw for the quarter-finals.