Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Muscat Zobahan guaranteed themselves top spot in Group B and a place in the knockout phase of the 2016 AFC Champions League on Wednesday when a brace by Ehsan Pahlavan either side of a strike by Kaveh Rezaei sealed a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr.
The three points secured by Yahya Golmohammadi’s side mean the Iranians will win the group ahead of Qatar’s Lekhwiya while the result also means Al Nassr are eliminated from the competition.
Zobahan now have 11 points from five games, three more than second placed Lekhwiya, who won against Bunyodkor earlier in the day, while Al Nassr are in third place on five points.
The Saudis, though, cannot overhaul Lekhwiya due to an inferior head-to-head record while Zobahan cannot be overtaken by Lekhwiya thanks to their 1-0 win over the Qataris on Matchday One.
“The match was tough but we could still win and get three important points,” said Golmohammadi. “Our key strength tonight was our defenders. They played an important role in the victory which secured our place in the knockout stage.
“I want to thank the players for their contribution as they put in a lot of effort to achieve this great result. I didn’t expect that we would win by such a margin but the victory was good and it will give us a big push for the last match.”
Zobahan had few problems against an Al Nassr side that struggled to hit their stride, with only Adrian Mierzejewski going close for the Riyadh-based club in the first 45 minutes.
Ghasem Hadadifar saw his attempt parried away by Abdullah Al Enezi before Zobahan opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Hadadifar’s penetrating pass from inside his own half opened up the Al Nassr defence, and Pahlavan ran in on goal to score.
Modibo Maiga went closest to finding the target for Al Nassr when he saw his header pushed over the bar by Zobahan goalkeeper Mohammadrashid Mazaheri on the stroke of half time.
Al Nassr opened up as they sought an equaliser, and as a result Zobahan had more time and space to cause problems to the Saudi side’s defence.
Sixteen minutes from time, the Iranians doubled their advantage when Hashem Beikzadeh’s cross from the left was headed back across goal by Morteza Tabrizi and Rezaei scored with a side-foot volley from six yards out.
And with seven minutes remaining, Pahlavan put the seal on the points with the best goal of the game after he cut in from the left touchline before surging through the Al Nassr defence and sliding the ball under Al Enezi to score.
“The defeat was heavy and what made things worse is that we have lost our chance in the competition,” said Al Nassr coach Raul Caneda. “We played well in the first half in general but a defensive mistake gave the chance for our opponents to take the lead.
“That goal affected the players and they couldn’t get back into the game as they were tired and they made more mistakes. We will study the reasons behind our exit from the competition and hopefully we can improve in the future.”
Photo: Iran Football Federation