Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Aloys Nong scored one and created another as Tractorsazi Tabriz booked their place in the knockout stage of the 2016 AFC Champions League with a 2-0 win over 2014 finalists Al Hilal on Tuesday.
Cameroonian striker Nong netted in the 66th minute to send the Iranians on their way to a fourth win in five games before Farzad Hatami sealed the points nine minutes from time and Amir Ghalehnoy’s side cannot now be surpassed at the summit with one round of matches remaining.
Al Hilal, meanwhile, will have to wait until their final game, once more against Tractorsazi on Matchday Six, before confirming their place in the last 16 for the eighth season in a row.
“The win is very important for us because it will give us a big push in the competition,” said Ghalehnoy. “We had a balanced performance in the two halves and we tried our best to avoid conceding any goals in the first half and we achieved that.
“In the second half we changed our strategy and put some pressure on the attack before scoring the first goal at the right moment. After that, we relied on the quick counter attacks and we managed to secure the win with the second goal.”
Tractorsazi went into the game with a one point advantage over Al Hilal at the start of the day, with the Iranians knowing a draw would be enough to seal their progress to the Round of 16.
The first 45 minutes was a disjointed affair, with Tractorsazi going closest to opening the scoring midway through the half when Soroush Rafiei shot from the edge of the area, only for Khalid Sharahili to palm the ball to safety.
Similarly, Al Hilal rarely threatened with only a late attempt from distance by Digao forcing any kind of response from Iranian goalkeeper Mohammadreza Akhbari in the dying seconds of the half.
Salman Al Faraj forced Akhbari into action in the opening moments of the second half, with the goalkeeper using his legs to save from close range, while a handling error from Sharahili at the other end almost allowed Hatami to capitalise soon after.
In the 66th minute, Tractorsazi took the lead when the Al Hilal defence was incapable of clearing a long ball into the box, allowing Mohammad Iranpourian to head the ball into the path of Nong, who steered his own header over the line from inside the six-yard box.
The goal prompted an immediate response from Al Hilal, with Salman Al Faraj forcing Akhbari into action three minutes later, with the Iranian goalkeeper equal to the task of the long-range attempt.
But with nine minutes remaining, Tractorsazi made sure of the points after Nong skipped easily past substitute Mohammed Al Shalhoub before sending in a centre that Hatami crashed into the roof of the goal with a powerful right-foot finish.
“We were expecting a tough match due to the conditions that we had and the heavy schedule,” said Al Hilal coach Georgios Donis. “We wanted to get a win and we put in a good performance in the first half but our opponents were good in defence.
“We had to go forward in the second half but we conceded a goal which affected us. We pushed more in order to level the scores but we lost many scoring chances before we conceded the second goal.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports