Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Abu Dhabi: Bakhtiar Rahmani scored his third goal in two AFC Champions League games as Tractorsazi Tabriz notched up back-to-back wins over Al Jazira from the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday in Group D of the continental club championship.
Rahmani netted twice in the meeting between the teams on Matchday 1, when the Iranians ran out 4-0 winners, and the 24-year-old was on the score sheet again for Amir Ghalenoei’s side in the 31st minute.
The goal was a rare bright spot in a disappointing game that rarely came to life, but victory meant the Iranians left Abu Dhabi in a strong position to advance to the knockout phase of the 2016 championship.
“It is a great thing to achieve our second consecutive win in the competition against a strong team like Al Jazira,” said Ghalenoei. “We gave an excellent performance and we dominated the proceedings, especially in the first half.
“Our defenders had a good game as well as they stopped the Al Jazira players from scoring but we were lucky not to concede any goals in the second half. This win will definitely give us a great push in the remaining four matches in the group.”
United Arab Emirates international Ali Mabkhout almost capitalised on Tractorsazi’s hesitance in defence as early as the fifth minute, when the striker found himself on the edge of the penalty area before firing off a low shot with his right foot that just missed going inside Mohammadreza Akhbari’s right-hand post.
Tractorsazi, however, slowly imposed themselves on the game and, by the 31st minute, the Iranians had taken the lead. Soroush Rafaiei’s lofted ball into the area was controlled by Rahmani on his chest before Khalif Al Senaani was beaten with a well-struck right foot effort.
Al Jazira coach Henk Ten Cate sought to give his side a lift at half-time, introducing former Stoke City forward Kenwyne Jones for the ineffective Mabkhout, but the Trinidad and Tobago international was incapable of giving his side the boost required.
Sultan Al Shamsi shot into the side netting after a quickly taken corner before Thiago Neves, another high profile arrival at the club in the summer from Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, made way, with Khalfan Mubarak taking the midfielder’s place in the 60th minute. Al Jazira, though, continued to stutter.
With five minutes remaining Sultan Al Suwaidi should have done better than snatch at his shot inside the area after Jones’ physical presence had forced Tractorsazi goalkeeper Akhbari to fumble.
The defender’s miss, however, summed up a frustrating night for Al Jazira who rarely troubled the Iranian defence despite significant possession throughout the game as Tractorsazi took all three points back to Tabriz.
“I’m really sad with the defeat especially because it was at home and in front of our fans,” said Al Jazira’s Ten Cate. “We made several changes to the team because we have to do a rotation in the squad due to the heavy schedule that we have.
“We performed well, especially in the second half, and I personally believe that we should have got a draw from the match because we had several scoring chances. But we failed to score and in the first half where Tractorsazi were the better side.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports