Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Arbil, runners up in last year’s AFC Cup, crashed out of the 2015 edition of the competition when a 0-0 draw with FC Istiklol on Wednesday left the Iraqi side adrift at the bottom of the standings in Group C.
The Iraqi side needed a win to keep their hopes of advancing alive but, despite putting the visitors from Tajikistan under pressure, the two-time finalists missed out on picking up the three points required.
The draw means Arbil have just four points, four adrift of second-placed Istiklol, who can now advance to the knockout rounds with a draw against Ahal on Matchday Six in two weeks’ time.
“We were the better side in the match but we didn’t score the chances that we created, which should have helped us to win and get the three points,” said Arbil’s Ahmad Salah.
“We gave a good performance in the first half but we didn’t take advantage of our dominance.
“Our performance improved gradually throughout the match but this wasn’t enough to achieve the result that we are looking for. We must now fix the mistakes we made tonight and look forward to the last match.”
Arbil’s best chance to secure the win came six minutes from the end when, having subjected the Istiklol defence to increased pressure, Nabeel Sabah struck a free kick that forced goalkeeper Nikola Stosic to push the ball wide for a corner.
Just one minute later, Arbil went close again when Mohammad Jaffal sent in a cross that Ahmed Mohammed sent over the crossbar from close range.
“The result was not bad because we achieved our target,” said Istiklol coach Mubin Ergashev. “We wanted to have a good balance between defence and attack and we were basically looking to avoid conceding any goals and we achieved this tonight.
“We tried to put more attacking players in the second half but our opponents’ defence was good. Now we must concentrate on the last match and get another good result in order to qualify to the knockout stage.”
Photo: WSG