Dubai: Farshad Ahmadzadeh scored five minutes before half-time to help Tractor Sazi of Iran to a 1-0 win against Dubai’s Al Ahli in their AFC Asian Champions League Group D encounter in Tabriz on Wednesday.
After their first match against namesakes Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia finished in an exciting 3-3 draw last week, the Al Ahli defence once again seemed to lose concentration for a split second and they paid the price for it.
Speedy winger Ahmadzadeh rushed in and connected with a cross from the right from Fardin Abedini to score the all-important goal.
The three points helped Tractor Sazi temporarily go to the top of Group D along with Uzbek side Nasaf, who beat the Iranians 2-1 in their first match. Nasaf were scheduled to meet Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah later on Wednesday.
Both sides were guarded in their approach in the initial stages of the match. Esmail Al Hammadi made the first real move towards goal when he advanced on the right flank on the half-hour mark and forced Tractor Sazi goalkeeper Hamed Lak to save for a corner.
As the match progressed, the home team grew in confidence. In the 33rd minute, Al Ahli goalkeeper Majid Nasser was alert in pouching a header from Brazilian striker Edinho following a throw-in by Iran national team star Andranik Teymourian.
The home side finally managed to open the scoring in the 40th minute, when Abedini ploughed his way down the right flank, passed Walid Abbas with a feint and crossed for Ahmadzadeh to boot home from the far post.
The UAE side regrouped well and went all out for an equaliser. They had two wonderful opportunities to at least share the points, but both went begging.
Two minutes from the hour mark, the visitors caught the Tractor Sazi defence off-guard with a swift counter-attack, but Habib Al Fardan, who received the ball on the left, got the ball tangled between his feet as he went in for a shot at goal with just Lak in the way.
And then, in the 78th minute, Al Hammadi was unfortunate to see his overhead kick following a corner brush the upright and go out.
Al Ahli have never gone past the group stages of the AFC Champions League and will now have their work cut out to end that run this season, with just one point from their first two games.
