Dubai: Foolad Sepahan snatched a vital point off Al Ahli in a listless Group D match of the AFC Champions League at the Rashid Stadium here late on Tuesday.
Last-gasp 2-1 winners in their away encounter in Iran last month, Al Ahli did well to maintain unbeaten record in this competition and further brighten their chances of entering the knock-out stages.
With a win and three draws so far Al Ahli is the only team in the group with an unbeaten record after Al Hilal had taken an early 1-0 lead against Al Sadd of Qatar in Saudi Arabia later on Tuesday.
Al Ahli have two more matches remaining – against Al Hilal at home on April 15 and away to Al Sadd on April 22.
Tuesday’s result saw Al Ahli go to the top of the group with six points while Al Hilal and Al Sadd remain with five points apiece and Sepahan at the bottom with four points.
The home side started off well with a couple of close calls on the Sepahan goal. In the very fifth minute it was Ahmad Khalil earning a free just outside the box, but Hugo Viana’s shot crashed into the defensive wall. Four minutes later, a cross from speedy Jociel Ferreira [Ciel] from the right eluded an outstretched Grafite.
The Iranians came back strongly and in the tenth minute Mehdi Sharifi saw his curling shot graze past the upright. Backed by a huge home crowd Al Ahli stuck to the plan of not allowing the opponents too much liberty upfront. But their passing and final touch on the ball remained a cause of concern for coach Cosmin Olaroiu.
And just when it looked like they were headed into dominating the home side lost influential playmaker Luis Jimenez to a groin strain with just 25 minutes gone. From then they always seemed to struggle. In the 21st minute Ciel advanced on the left only to shoot into the side netting and then in the 39th minute Grafite nearly curled one over Shojae Khalilzadeh.
Sepahan started strongly in the second half and Mehdi Sharifi was denied by the cross bar in the 49th minute and then in the 52nd minute an unmarked Hossein Papi was unlucky not to tap in.
As the match progressed, neither team seemed to be coming up with any sort of constructive play with the attacking duo of Grafite and Ciel completely neutralized by the Sepahan defence.
