Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Esfahan: Xhevahir Sukaj fired home a late winner as Iranian side Sepahan came from behind to beat Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal 3-2 on Wednesday in Group D of the AFC Champions League.
After Mehdi Sharifi had equalised in the 72nd minute with a magnificent strike from distance, Sepahan appeared to squander their chance of picking up three points when Hadi Aghily missed a penalty.
But as the game entered stoppage time, Sukaj unleashed a left-footed thunderbolt that angled past goalkeeper Faiz Al Subaiei into the far corner of the Al Hilal net.
Albanian midfielder Ervin Bulku had earlier put the hosts ahead at Foolad Shahr Stadium but Segundo Castillo equalised with a header and Thiago Neves (Thiago Neves Augusto) then scored directly from a corner to give the visitors the half-time lead.
Sepahan were looking to get their campaign back on track after an opening 3-1 defeat by Al Sadd and they got just the start they wanted when Bulku put them ahead after 17 miinutes.
Captain Moharram Navidkia took possession of the ball on the left edge of the box and relayed it quickly to his right where the unattended Albanian steamed in to fire past goalkeeper Faiz Al Subaiei.
However, the visitors would turn things around thanks to the masterful left-footed delivery of Thiago Neves on a pair of set pieces.
On 28 minutes, he curled a corner from the right towards the six-yard box where Castillo met the ball with a glancing header that sent the ball into the bottom corner.
The Brazilian then decided to go for goal himself from the same spot five minutes later and he curled an exquisite shot than flew into the net over the heads of goalkeeper Rahman Ahmadi and defender Ali Hamoudi at the near post.
Sepahan went close to levelling the score before half-time when Al Subaiei was forced to dive at full stretch to keep out an Ehsan Hajisafi free-kick in the 36th minute.
The home side continued to look for an equaliser after the break and after much pressure, they finally drew level through a wonder-strike by Sharifi.
The 21-year-old had scored on his AFC Champions League debut against Al Sadd and he made it two-for-two when he gathered a knockdown from Sukaj just outside the box and made a smart turn to get away Abdulla Zori before lashing a shot from 25 metres that flew past the despairing dive of Al Subaiei into the top corner.
The home side should have gone ahead in the 79th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Yasir Al Shahrani handled a cross by Hajisafi. But Aghily failed to keep his composure and fired the penalty well over the crossbar.
Sukaj was caught time and again by Al HIlal’s offside trap but he finally sprung it in the final minute, taking the ball down on left edge of the box and firing it across Al Subaiei and into the far corner of the net.