Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dubai: Coach Ruziqul Berdiev insisted his Nasaf side were good value for the point they earned on the road after they held out for a 0-0 draw with Emirati champions Al Ahli on Wednesday in the AFC Champions League.
The Uzbekistan club were pegged back for long spells but in general their rear-guard action was rarely penetrated and goalkeeper Eldorbek Suyunov, apart from Ismail Al Hammadi’s header from a corner midway through the first half, was untroubled for much of the contest at Rashid Stadium.
Despite their own inability to break the deadlock, though, Berdiev was content with his players’ efforts in securing the draw that sees Nasaf remain second in Group D, a point above Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz who were defeated 2-0 by pacesetters Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia.
ACL MD3 – Group D: Al Ahli 0-0 Nasaf
“We played a good match and showed a defensive performance because we know that our opponents are a strong team and they have good attacking players. We tried our best to use counter attacks and had many scoring chances but we failed to score,” said Nasaf coach Berdiev, who saw his captain and main attacking outlet Artur Gevorkyan withdrawn before half-time with an injury.
“I don’t think we were lucky to get this result because we played very well and the draw was fair for us. I’m satisfied with the performance of the players and the result as well because we were playing an away match with hot conditions that affected our players.”
Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu was less satisfied with the result that sees his side remain bottom of the group and still winless with just two points from three matches.
“We controlled the proceedings and we created many scoring chances but we failed to score. Our opponents didn’t give us much space and we expected a better performance from our players but this is our situation at the moment,” said Olaroiu.
“We tried our best to make useful substitutions but things didn’t go our way. I hope that we can have better performances in the next matches as all the teams in the group still have a chance to go through.”
Photo: WSG