ACL MD1 – Group A: Sepahan 2-0 Al Nasr [VIDEO]

Sepahan last won on November 20 in the Iranian league against Naft Tehran, but two goals from the Brazilian ensured the 2010 AFC Champions League finalists made a successful start in Group A of this year’s continental club championship.

“You all know what difficult days we have gone through,” said Stimac.

“But if we believe in ourselves we can obtain good results. We prefer to respond to our critics on the pitch. I have no problems with them and try to learn from them.

“After a player misses a chance in a game the pressure on him will mount in the next games. Pereira missed a couple of chances in a number of matches but he he’s our most valuable player. He draws four opposition players to himself and I would have never sidelined him for his performance in those matches.

“In football, it’s the teams who play matches, not individual players. I said earlier that our opponents have world class players but as we witnessed in the match that big names didn’t make a difference.”

The Iranians last featured in the AFC Champions League in 2011, when they reached the quarter-finals a year after losing to Seongnam Ilhwa in the final in Tokyo, but the Isfahan-based side impressed throughout in a well-deserved win.

Sepahan took control of the opening exchanges as Stimac’s side swarmed around in their yellow and black shirts, unsettling the Al Nasr midfield and defence.

By the 13^th minute the home side had taken a deserved lead, doing so in spectacular fashion when Luciano Pereira struck from 30 yards, stroking a curling right foot shot beyond Ahmad Shambih in the Al Nasr goal and over the line via the underside of the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Sepahan’s pressure almost saw their advantage doubled only for Hossein Fazeli’s goal-bound attempt to be deflected wide of the target by the Al Nasr defence.

The Iranians continued to apply pressure and, just after the half hour mark, Mohammadreza Khalatbari missed a gilt-edged opportunity to put Sepahan further in front when the former Iran international miss-hit his shot with the goal at his mercy.

Six minutes into the second half, however, Sepahan claimed the second goal their performance deserved, and again it was Luciano Pereira who supplied the finishing touch.

The Al Nasr defence was unable to clear Saeid Ghaedifar’s cross into the penalty area from the left side of the pitch, allowing Fazeli to clip his centre towards Luciano Pereira and the unmarked Brazilian headed home from inside the six-yard box.

The 32-year-old, who struck six times in the 2014 ACL for former club Foolad, continued to threaten, seeing Shambih do just enough to deny him moments after scoring his second while, with five minutes remaining, a desperate block by Esam Dhahni left the hat-trick seeking forward frustrated.

As the clock ticked down, Khalatbari’s late effort was cleared off the line as Sepahan dominated until the final whistle and pick up a comfortable win.

“I extend my congratulations to Sepahan on this victory,” said Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic. “They were the better side throughout the match. Sepahan controlled the match in the early stages and attacked more than us and truly deserved the win.

“We had watched a number of Sepahan’s matches. They’d displayed good performances in their previous games but maybe they were poor in finishing. However, they did a great job with their final finishes today.”

Photo: Lagardere Sports