Dubai: Al Nasr progressed to the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League with a 5-4 aggregate win over Iran’s Tractor Sazi despite losing the Last 16 second leg 3-1 away on Tuesday.
Salem Saleh fired the visitors ahead with his third goal over the two legs after tapping home Jonathan Pitroipa’s cross at the back post on 16 minutes.
This left Tractor Sazi needing five goals to overturn the deficit from Al Nasr’s 4-1 win in last week’s first leg.
That had seemed impossible, but Farzad Hatami pulled the hosts level just after the interval, Mohammad Iranpourian put them in front on the hour, and Hatami added a second to extend their lead with 17 minutes to spare, making for an incredibly tense finale.
Hatami’s first goal came after he barged his way into the box and hooked onto a half volley from a bouncing long ball to equalise on 47 minutes. Iranpourian then blasted the hosts in front on 61 minutes after being teed up on the edge of the area.
And Hatami added his second and Tractor Sazi’s third after turning his marker outside the area and slotting into the bottom left on 73 minutes.
Despite this second half onslaught Al Nasr held on overall to continue their unprecedented run on the continent. This is the first time they’ve reached the knock-out stages of the tournament in three appearances having twice previously failed to get out of the group in 2012 and 2013.
