Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeddah: Al Ittihad’s struggles in the 2016 AFC Champions League continued on Tuesday as the two-time champions slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of a Nilmar-inspired Al Nasr from the United Arab Emirates.
The Brazilian forward struck twice as the club from Dubai moved to the top of the Group A standings, one point clear of Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv, while Al Ittihad are rooted to the bottom and remain winless with just two points from their opening three games.
Nilmar gave the visitors the perfect start after less than a minute before Gelmin Rivas levelled the scores 12 minutes later only for Nilmar to score the winner with 16 minutes remaining.
“We achieved what we wanted from this match and added three important points against such strong opponents,” said Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic. “The match was not easy and I’m happy that my players followed our instructions.
“We put pressure on our opponents and controlled the midfield, which affected them as they couldn’t create many scoring chances. Despite the win, all the teams in the group still have a chance to go through.”
Al Nasr could not have hoped for a better start to proceedings when, soon after kick off, Amir Mubarak was gifted possession midway into his own half and his perfectly measured ball forward left Nilmar in a foot race with Ahmed Asiri.
The 31-year-old held off the Al Ittihad captain before slotting the ball beyond Asaf Al Qarni and over the line, via the inside of the post.
The home side, however, had bounced back by the 13th minute when the ball was played into the path of Rivas and he resisted the attention of the Al Nasr defence before beating Ahmad Shambih with his attempt.
Jires Kembo-Ekoko’s effort from just outside the area midway through the second half caused Al Qarni few problems while a mistake by the goalkeeper less than a minute later should have been punished by Khalid Jalal, only for the midfielder to thump the ball back into Al Qarni’s arms.
But in the 74th minute Al Nasr finally hurt the Al Ittihad defence when Jonathan Pitroipa turned Asiri this way and that before rolling the ball centrally to Nilmar, who controlled the ball with his first touch before scoring on the turn with his second.
Asiri went closest to salvaging a point for Al Ittihad four minutes into stoppage-time when his shot on the turn was pushed to safety by Shambih, but it was a rare late foray forward for the home side and Al Nasr ran out deserved winners.
“The match was bad from our side as we conceded from their first chance on our goal,” said Al Ittihad coach Victor Piturca. “We tried to get back into the match and we levelled the scores but the mistakes we made affected us.
“The players were really tired and this was clear in the match and we were affected with the absence of several players. I’m really sorry that our fans who attended the match had to leave disappointed.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports