Sports Desk
Esteghlal manager Farhad Majidi called on his players to forget about their first-day victory over Saudi club Al Ahli at the AFC Champions League group stage and concentrate on their next opponent. The Tehran-based Blues got off to a flying start in their Group C at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Saudi Arabia, beating the host 5-2 on Thursday.
Midfielder Farshid Esmaeili gave the Iranian side the lead with five minutes into the game before Syrian striker Omar al-soma converted a controversial spot-kick to draw Al Ahli level in the 27th minute.
Left-back Mohammad Naderi and Mehdi Qayedi gave Esteghlal a two-goal cushion but Soma pulled one back with 11 minutes from normal time.
With Al Ahli digging desperately for an equalizer, Qayedi scored with a screamer, curling the ball into the top corner from 30 yards out, to secure the three points in the 87th minute, before substitute Cheick Diabaté scored from the spot to wrap up the victory for the Blues.
“I believe that we analyzed Al Ahli thoroughly and we performed
well throughout the match,” Majidi said in the postmatch press conference.
“We have an excellent group of players and even the substitutes gave what was required from them.
“It was, however, just the start today and we must now forget this victory and start concentrating on the next matches because everything is still possible.”
Up next for Esteghlal is a fixture against Iraq’s Al Shorta on Sunday.
The Iraqi side fell to a 2-0 defeat against Qatar’s Al Duhail earlier on Thursday.
Esteghlal’s victory rounded off a decent first-round of fixtures for the Iranian clubs.
Last season’s runner-up Persepolis beat the UAE’S Al Wahda 1-0 in Group E, courtesy of a veteran skipper Seyyed Jalal Hosseini’s first-half strike in Goa, India.
Tractor and Foolad Khuzestan, meanwhile, settled for draws against the two formidable teams in their groups.
Javad Nekounam’s Foolad finished 1-1 against Qatari giant Al Sadd – one of the favorites to win the competition – in Group D, while a six-goal thriller saw Tractor and Pakhtacor of Uzbekistan share the points in Group B.