ACL MD5 – Group B: Zobahan 3-0 Al Nassr [VIDEO]
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Loading...AFC – MUSCAT, Zobahan guaranteed themselves top spot in Group B and a place in the knockout phase of the 2016 AFC Champions League on Wednesday when a brace by Ehsan Pahlavan either side of a strike by Kaveh Rezaei sealed a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr.
The three points secured by Yahya Golmohammadi’s side mean the Iranians will win the group ahead of Qatar’s Lekhwiya while the result also means Al Nassr are eliminated from the competition.
Zobahan now have 11 points from five games, three more than second placed Lekhwiya, who won against Bunyodkor earlier in the day, while Al Nassr are in third place on five points.
The Saudis, though, cannot overhaul Lekhwiya due to an inferior head-to-head record while Zobahan cannot be overtaken by Lekhwiya thanks to their 1-0 win over the Qataris on Matchday One.
Zobahan had few problems against an Al Nassr side that struggled to hit their stride, with only Adrian Mierzejewski going close for the Riyadh-based club in the first 45 minutes.
Ghasem Hadadifar saw his attempt parried away by Abdullah Al Enezi before Zobahan opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Hadadifar’s penetrating pass from inside his own half opened up the Al Nassr defence, and Pahlavan ran in on goal to score.
Modibo Maiga went closest to finding the target for Al Nassr when he saw his header pushed over the bar by Zobahan goalkeeper Mohammadrashid Mazaheri on the stroke of half time.
Al Nassr opened up as they sought an equaliser, and as a result Zobahan had more time and space to cause problems to the Saudi side’s defence.
Sixteen minutes from time, the Iranians doubled their advantage when Hashem Beikzadeh’s cross from the left was headed back across goal by Morteza Tabrizi and Rezaei scored with a side-foot volley from six yards out.
And with seven minutes remaining, Pahlavan put the seal on the points with the best goal of the game after he cut in from the left touchline before surging through the Al Nassr defence and sliding the ball under Al Enezi to score.
