Saba Battery secure dramatic win against Al Ahli

Dubai: Down by three goals, Saba Battery staged one of the most dramatic recoveries of this year's AFC Champions League (ACL) with a dramatic 5-3 win against Al Ahli in their final Group A match here late on Wednesday.

Trailing 0-3 and the match nearly wrapped up in favour of the hosts, Saba Battery rejuvenated themselves midway through the second half to score four goals within 14 minutes to troop home with full points and finish second from the bottom with five points to their credit in this inconsequential match.

Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia had already qualified for the 16 stage of the competition from the group.

It was Al Ahli all the way at the start with two of their goals coming from the penalty spot late in the first half that had to be stopped for nearly ten minutes after hardly nine minutes of play due to a power cut.

The home team scored in the 40th minute when Milad Midawoodi was brought down inside the box by Ali Reza Latifi and Al Ahli skipper Saleem Khamis coolly placed past Tolja Almir for the opener.

Al Ahli was awarded a second penalty during injury period of the first half after Farzanh Hamidreza handled inside the box and Salah Abbas did full justice to the kick to troop in for the halftime with a 2-0 cushion.

The home side made it 3-0 in the 66th minute after Milad Midawoodi chipped past an onrushing Saba Battery goalkeeper following a pass from Esmail Al Hammadi.

However, Saba Battery were far from finished as skipper Faraidooni Fazli opened the scoring for the Iranians in the 68th minute when he nodded into an empty net following a cross from the right. Two minutes later, Shahin Shafiei added a second and Mohammad Noori got his name on the scoresheet within the next minute to put the match at 3-3.

Mohsen Yousefi tipped the scales in favour of the visitors 4-3 when he blasted in from close range and three minutes from the end an unmarked Mohammad Hamrang drilled in the fifth to wrap up proceedings on an otherwise drab evening.