Persepolis, Esteghlal book ACL knockout places
Tehran giants Persepolis and Esteghlal booked their places at the last 16 of the 2018 AFC Champions League with one game to spare in the group stage.
Esteghlal secured a knockout berth with a 2-0 win over Qatar’s Al Rayyan at Azadi Stadium on Matchday Five of Group D on Monday, the-afc.com reported.
The host got off to a flying start and needed just four minutes to open the scoring as Server Djeparov converted a cross from Farshid Esmaeili past goalkeeper Oumar Barry.
Al Rayyan captain Rodrigo Tabata attempted his luck from long distance, but his strike went wide in the 20th minute as the Qatari side intensified the pressure in an effort to find an equalizer.
Esteghlal doubled its lead 13 minutes after the restart as Vouria Ghafouri stepped up to drive home from the penalty spot to make it 2-0.
The result means Esteghlal is through to the Round of 16 while Al Rayyan will have to battle Al Ain for the second Group D ticket on Matchday Six in two weeks’ time.
Meanwhile, last year’s semifinalists Persepolis sealed its place at the knockout round of the competition with a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf on Monday, as the Persian Gulf Pro League champion claimed a better head-to-head record in their Group C campaign.
The Iranian champion dominated possession throughout the opening half but could not make a single shot on target for the entire 45 minutes as Nasaf defended resolutely in the face of frequent attacks.
The host’s most dangerous chance of the first half came in the 18th minute when Azizjon Ganiev’s cross from the right flank nearly tricked Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, but the Iranian international tipped it behind before defender Seyyed Jalal Hosseini cleared the danger.
After the break, Persepolis stepped up its game as Siamak Nemati attempted to take Farshad Ahmadzadeh’s cross, but his halfvolleyed effort sailed high above the Uzbek goal five minutes after the restart.
Nasaf boss Ruziqol Berdiev introduced striker Dragan Ceran at the hour mark, and the Serbian’s first contribution was to set up Bobir Abdixolikov for an overhead kick that went just wide off the target.
Vahid Amiri set up substitute Ahmed Nourollahi at the edge of the penalty box and the midfielder’s strike from a tight angle was tipped over by Sanjar Kuvvatov to keep the score level at the final whistle.
The result confirms Persepolis and Al Sadd’s qualification to the next round with the two sides meeting on the final day of the group stage in Tehran to decide the group winner.