JEDDAH — Omar Al Soma’s second-half header ensured Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli saw off Nasaf from Uzbekistan at King Abdullah Sports City in Group D of the 2016 AFC Champions League on Wednesday.
The lofty Syrian nodded home two minutes into the second half to secure all three points for Christian Gross’ team after Mohammed Al Fatil had put Al Ahli in front after just two minutes and Bobir Abdixolikov levelled just before the half-hour mark.
Al Ahli made a lightning start to the game, with Al Soma seeing his effort saved in the first minute by Nasaf keeper Eldorbek Suyunov who pushed his shot away for the corner from which the Saudi side would open the scoring.
Giannis Fetfatzidis sent in his corner from the Al Ahli left and Mohammed Al Fatil headed home after moving unmarked to meet the ball and glance his goalward header beyond the diving Suyunov.
Steadily Nasaf pulled themselves back into the game. Abdixolikov should have done better in the 12th minute when he found himself behind the Al Ahli defense, only for Abdullah Al Maiouf to come out quickly to deny him.
Just before the half hour mark, however, the Uzbek side were level, with Abdixolikov’s previous effort proving a precursor of what was to come when the striker was put in on goal thanks to a perfectly weighted pass from Dilshod Rakhmatullaev, and this time he made no mistake, shooting into the far corner.
After making a rapid start to the first half, Al Ahli served up a repeat performance at the beginning of the second period as Al Soma put the Saudi side back in front with a perfectly placed header.
El Jaish beats Al Ain 2-1
A missed retaken penalty cost Al Ain a share of the spoils on Wednesday as Qatar’s El Jaish notched up a 2-1 win over the inaugural champions in the teams’ Group D meeting in the 2016 AFC Champions League.
Abderrazzaq Hamedallah and Romarinho scored for El Jaish in the first half before Douglas’ penalty 25 minutes from time gave the 2003 ACL champions hope of salvaging a draw in front of their own fans.
But an earlier miss from the penalty spot by Douglas – who had been ordered to take his attempt a second time after encroachment by several of his team-mates saw his initial conversion ruled out – meant it was the side from Doha who took all three points.
“I’m extremely happy with the victory because we were playing against a big team,” said El Jaish coach Sabri Lamouchi. “Winning against a team like Al Ain, who are one of the favourites to win the title, will give us a big push and hopefully we can get more points.
“Even a draw would have been a reasonable result but the players followed the instructions and they gave a good performance. Despite the fact that our players don’t have a lot of experience, they still played with great fighting spirit.
El Jaish claimed the lead with just nine minutes on the clock having already threatened the home side’s goal four minutes earlier when Romarinho’s attempt at goal was kept out thanks to a sharp save by Khalid Eisa using his feet.
Tractorsazi Tabriz beats Al Jazira 4-0
Bakhtiar Rahmani bagged a brace as Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz secured a comfortable 4-0 victory over Al Jazira of the United Arab Emirates in Group C of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday.
Tractorsazi got their continental campaign off to the perfect start at Yadegar Emam Stadium when Rahmani put them in front within five minutes before Shojae Khalilzadeh headed in a second on nine minutes.
The Iranians continued in the ascendancy after the interval with substitute Mehdi Sharifi adding a third nine minutes in.
