Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dubai: Al Ittihad’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout phase of the 2016 AFC Champions League suffered another blow on Wednesday as the two-time champions’ winless streak continued with a 0-0 draw against Al Nasr of the United Arab Emirates.
Al Ittihad champions in 2004 and 2005, have yet to notch up a win in this year’s campaign and picked up just their third point in four games to share last place in Group A with Iran’s Sepahan.
Gelmin Rivas’ miss 20 minutes from time, when the Brazilian had a clear sight of goal, could prove costly as Victor Piturca’s side now only have two games to salvage their campaign as they lie five points behind leaders Lokomotiv from Uzbekistan.
“We came here to win but we missed many scoring chances which could have given us a good victory,” said Piturca. “In general I’m satisfied with the performance of the players and what they showed tonight.
“We didn’t have a good start to the competition this year as we dropped several points and this has affected us. We still have a chance, mathematically speaking, and we will try our best to get two victories from the two next matches.”
The draw enhanced Al Nasr’s hopes of reaching the Round of 16 for the first time in their history as they moved on to seven points and it was home side striker Nilmar who was presented with a gilt edged opportunity to open the scoring after 24 minutes, only to fire his shot well wide.
Twelve minutes later, Jonathan Pitroipa almost found a way through after his return pass from Jires Kembo Ekoko gave him a sight of goal, but the final effort was cleared by the visitors’ defence.
Al Ittihad’s attack was proving to be incapable of penetrating the Al Nasr defence and as a result the former champions were left to resort to long-range efforts. Ziyad Al Sahafi tried his luck, sending his shot over the bar, while Fahad Al Muwallad’s attempt met with a similar outcome.
Three minutes before the break Al Nasr threatened again, with Mahmoud Khamis crossing from the left towards Pitroipa, the ball hitting the striker on the chest before going harmlessly wide.
Al Nasr continued to frustrate Al Ittihad in a game the Saudis had to win and it was the home side’s Kimbo-Ekoko who fashioned out the first chance of the second half when he curled his low effort from the edge of the area just wide of the goal a shade after the hour mark.
With 20 minutes to go Al Ittihad should have gone in front, and it was a miss Piturca’s team were to rue. Lucian Sanmartean fed the ball forward to Al Muwallad, who ran at the Al Nasr defence before finding Rivas inside the area but, with the goal at his mercy, the Brazilian fired his attempt high over the bar.
Al Ittihad were unable to make amends and their fate was sealed a minute from time when defender Ahmed Asiri was sent off for a second bookable offence following a foul on Salem Saleh.
“The match was very hard because we played against an organised side who played with a defensive strategy and that relied on counter attacks,” Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic said. “We controlled proceedings in the middle of the field but we didn’t take advantage of our dominance.
“We wanted to get a victory tonight and get the three points but we failed to achieve our target. We have to work in the last two matches and hopefully we will perform as well as we did tonight.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports