ACL Analysis: Two set-pieces propel Persepolis past Al Wasl

AFC – TEHRAN, A long throw-in and a penalty kick helped Persepolis record a solid 2-0 win over UAE’s Al Wasl who are yet to get a single point in the competition this season.

Persepolis were calm and collected as they beat a young Al Wasl side 2-0 in Tehran, with goals from Farshad Ahmadzadeh and Ali Alipour enough to put them in second place with six points. The Emirati side were unable to threaten in the absence of their top two goal scorers Fabio de Lima and Caio Canedo.

Al Wasl attempt to nullify Persepolis with a new formation
With foreign duo Lima and Canedo missing, and Ronaldo Mendes on the bench, Rodolfo Arruabarrena had to come up with a different plan to get something against Persepolis. This involved Al Wasl using a new 5-3-2 formation.

The way the Al Wasl midfield operated was key in preventing any Persepolis domination in the early minutes of the game. Hamad Al Balooshi sat just ahead of the Al Wasl defensive trio, with the wing-backs pushing up into midfield to compensate for the absence of the remaining two midfielders.

Anthony Caceres and Humaid Abbas, either side of Al Balooshi, pushed up in the half spaces to block Persepolis’ passing lanes into their midfield duo of Kamal Kamyabinia and Siamak Nemati.

Caceres with an unorthodox defensive role
As Al Wasl had two young full-backs debuting, they needed an extra layer of defensive support. While it was expected of the naturally defensive Abbas to stick to his defensive duties, it was the usually creative Caceres who had an important defensive role.

The 5-3-2 formation of Al Wasl included the movement of the outer central midfielders to the flanks, to prevent the likes of Vahid Amiri receiving the ball and beating the young Faris Khalil in a one-one-one duel. As shown in the image above, Caceres moved from his central midfield position to the left flank and attempted seven tackles.

Persepolis focus on the flanks
Persepolis’ game plan centred around the wide areas, with an avalanche of crosses, corners and long throw-ins directed into Al Wasl’s penalty box throughout the match.

The Iranian side sent 20 crosses into their opponents’ box over the 90 minutes, but accuracy was severely lacking as only a single cross found a teammate.

Long throw-ins did deliver for Persepolis as they broke the deadlock in the 36th minute after a long throw-in by Hossein Mahini reached Jalal Hosseini who won an aerial duel in the box, flicking it on to the goalscorer Ahmadzadeh.