Antlers and Al Ahly take step closer to Club World Cup spot
Leo Silva’s opener and Serginho’s eye-catching strike put Kashima Antlers firmly on top in the Asian Champions League (ACL) final as they beat Persepolis 2-0 in the home leg yesterday.
The Brazilians both scored in the second half to give Japan’s Kashima an important cushion ahead of next week’s return game at the imposing Azadi Stadium in Tehran, with the winner getting a spot at the Fifa Club World Cup in the UAE next month.
Persepolis suffered a further blow in injury time when Siamak Nemati received a second yellow card for dissent, ruling him out of the second leg.
“Looking at the second half, it was the ideal performance from my team,” said Kashima coach Go Oiwa.
“But this is only the first half of a game of 180 minutes and we want to concentrate on the next game, not only in the Asian Champions League but we also have a domestic league game as well so we just want to keep going.”
Serginho’s goal was the highlight as the 23-year-old forward struck with a delicate half-volley from a difficult angle – his fifth goal in five Champions League games.
It gave Go Oiwa’s team the advantage they had targeted before their trip to face the record 11-time Iranian champions on home soil.
The game started promisingly in Kashima when Ali Alipour looked certain to score from close range, but saw his shot blocked by the face of a lunging Jung Seung-hyun.
But Kashima had to wait until the 57th minute to break the deadlock.
Silva caught the Persepolis defence napping as he played a one-two on the edge of the box with Shoma Doi and then swept a low, left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
On 69 minutes, Kento Misao picked out Serginho and the Brazilian beat past Alireza Beiranvand in the Persepolis goal with the outside of his left boot.
Meanwhile, Walid Soliman converted two Video assistant referre (VAR) penalties to give Al Ahly of Egypt a 3-1 first-leg win over arch-rivals Esperance on Friday in the African Champions League final.
Amr el Soulia scored the other goal for the hosts at the Borg el Arab Stadium in Alexandria and Youcef Belaili converted a penalty for the Tunisians.
The victor of the competition, like the ACL, will get a spot in the Club World Cup.
Ahly have won their last three away matches against Esperance in the premier African club competition and are favoured to lift the trophy a record-extending ninth time after the return leg next Friday in the second leg.
“We will fight for the title in the return match in Tunisia – we will be up against a team worthy of respect,” said France-born Ahly manager Patrice Carteron.
Esperance manager Moine Chaabani was critical of the Algerian referee, VAR, and the yellow cards that ruled Chamseddine Dhaouadi and Franck Kom out of the second leg.
“If the intention was to steer the title to a certain team, why do we tire ourselves out, and the fans travel, and dream of the title? We will not give up.”
VAR was part of a Champions League final for the first time and referee Mehdi Charef twice used the system to rubber-stamp decisions.
Esperance goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifia made contact with Ahly striker Walid Azaro in the 34th minute and the match official pointed to the spot before watching replays and confirming the penalty that Soliman converted.
The second VAR incident came 13 minutes from time as Azaro was pushed in an offthe-ball incident and Soliman again made no mistake.
If the intention was to steer the title to a certain team, why do we tire ourselves out and the fans travel? MOINE CHAABANI Esperance manager