Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dubai: Persepolis earned an important 1-0 away victory thanks to a goal from Kamal Kamyabinia that officially eliminated Al Wasl from the competition on Matchday Four of the 2018 AFC Champions League Group C on Tuesday.
It took five minutes for the hosts to make their first attempt through a shot from Abdalla Al Naqbi that was saved by goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.
A minute later, Al Wasl threatened again after a cross from Ali Saleh to captain Fabio de Lima whose strike went above the crossbar.
The visitors had a chance to open the scoring in the 21st minute when Siamak Nemati sent a powerful shot from a free-kick too high after a foul on goalkeeper Yousif Abdulla, who was booked for touching the ball outside the 18-yard box.
Eight minutes before half time, Persepolis broke the deadlock when Hossein Mahini delivered a pinpoint cross into the box to Kamyabinia who headed into the near corner.
With the beginning of the second half, the hosts came close to levelling the score but Lima's header missed the net after a cross from Ronaldo Mendes in the 48th minute.
Mendes thought he scored the equaliser after cutting in from the right flank and firing from a narrow angle but the Brazilian saw his attempt saved by goalkeeper Beiranvand.
A fourth consecutive defeat leaves Al Wasl bottom of Group C with no hope of advancing to the next stage ahead of Matchday Five's trip to face Al Sadd.
Last year's semi-finalists Persepolis are, meanwhile, second in the group with nine points and will travel to Qarshi next to meet Nasaf.