Al Ain draw with Pakhtakor to keep hopes alive in AFC Champions League Elite

Tashkent: Defending champions Al Ain kept their hopes alive for a place in the knockout round after a 1-1 draw over Pakhtakor in Tashkent in the AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 on Tuesday.

The result ensured Leonardo Jardim’s side have two points with still three adrift of eighth-placed Esteghlal in the west league standings with two matches remaining.

Al Ain were left with just 10-men for the last 35 minutes after Yahia Nader was sent off for a dangerous tackle in the 55th minute. Earlier,

Earlier, Otabek Jurakuziyev’s scored in the sixth minute to give the home team the lead before Al Ain’s Soufiane Rahimi struck in the 49th minute to draw level.

Pohang Steelers win

In the other matches, Pohang Steelers inflicted a first defeat on treble-chasing Vissel Kobe 3-1, as Yokohama F-Marinos took another step towards the knockout round.

Japan’s Kobe racked up four wins and one draw from their opening five games but they could not cope with a hungry Pohang side looking to haul themselves into the eight qualification places in the East table.

Han Chan-hee and Kim In-sung gave the South Korean side an early two-goal lead before Kobe’s Daiju Sasaki pulled one back from the penalty spot before half-time.

Substitute Jeong Jae-hee added a late third to secure the win and lift Pohang out of the elimination zone in the East table.

Kobe, who have already won Japan’s domestic Emperor’s Cup and can clinch their second straight J. League title this weekend, are still on course for a place in the knockout round.

But they were knocked off the East table top spot by Japanese compatriots Yokohama, who thrashed Australia’s Central Coast Mariners 4-0 away from home.

“We need to switch our focus from the Asian Champions League to the J. League now,” said Sasaki, whose team lead Sanfrecce Hiroshima by one point heading into Sunday’s final day of the domestic season.

Determination

Pohang took the lead in the 13th minute when Han slammed the ball home from close range after Kobe had conceded an indirect free-kick for a back pass.

Veteran Kim made it two less than 10 minutes later when he charged down the right and arrowed in a shot across the goalkeeper.

Sasaki pulled one back from the spot after Lee Tae-seok pulled down Rikuto Hirose in the box, but Jeong had the last word with a breakaway goal in second-half injury time.

Yokohama also started quickly in their stylish win over winless Central Coast.

Last season’s beaten finalists were three goals ahead by half-time after a brace from Kenta Inoue and one from Anderson Lopes, before substitute Jun Amano added a fourth goal after the break with a pin-point free-kick.

“We could have scored more goals and I could have got more myself, but we went into this game with a lot of determination,” Inoue said after leading Yokohama to their third straight win in the competition.

The result left Central Coast well outside the top eight, having taken only one point with two games remaining.

“It’s not easy to stay motivated when you’re defeated 3-0 in the first half but one thing about the boys is they never give up,” said captain Brian Kaltak.

With inputs from AFP