Esteghlal midfielder Tareq rues bad luck against Al Ain
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Loading...Tasnim – TEHRAN, Humam Tareq felt Esteghlal was unlucky to fall to a 1-1 draw against Al Ain of the UAE in Group C of the 2019 AFC Champions League on Tuesday.
After both teams lost their opening games of the campaign, the match at Azadi Stadium took on extra significance and it was Esteghlal who dominated large spells, eventually going ahead through Farshid Bagheri’s header in the 54th minute.
But the Iranian side continued to miss chances and the longer there remained just one goal in it, the more likely the equalizer became. So it proved as Japan international Tsukasa Shiotani fired into the bottom left corner with five minutes remaining to claim a share of the spoils.
“We played a great game but luck wasn’t on our side,” reflected Tareq, who came off the bench with just under 20 minutes to play.
“We wasted a number of chances both in the first and second halves. I hope we will be better in the next game, which will be a tough one as it’s against the group leaders Al Hilal,” the Iraqi midfielder added.
More than 65,000 spectators had turned out at the Azadi, but, with Esteghlal unable to capitalize on their chances, they would leave disappointed following Al Ain’s equalizer.
“It’s tough to take this point but I think that, being Esteghlal, and having these great fans who support us from the beginning to the end, we are capable of achieving something,” added Tareq.
“I wish all the best to my teammates and the coaching staff [in the next games] and I also want to thank the fans who came to support us. I hope we can make them happy in the future,” he concluded.
