AFC - Sepahan came from behind to beat
Kuwait's Al Arabi 3-1 in their final match in Group D of the AFC Champions
League but it was not enough for the 2003 Iranian league champions to
progress to the quarter-finals as they were edged out of top spot by Saudi
Arabia's Al Ittihad.
Sepahan went into the final round of matches level on 10 points with Al
Ittihad but knowing that they needed a better result than the Saudi side to
advance due to their inferior record in head-to-head meetings between the
two teams.
However, the home team were to receive a rude shock as Al Arabi grabbed an
early lead in Esfahan, Firas Al Khatib putting the Kuwaitis ahead as he
dribbled past Sepahan goalkeeper Kamil Susko to score after only two
minutes.
With the talismanic Moharram Navidkia ruled out by a long-term knee injury,
Sepahan failed to find any cohesion in the opening half and had to rely on a
pair of saves by Susko to keep them in the game.
Sepahan coach Farhad Kazemi rang the changes with two substitutions and his
team gradually took control in the second half as they used the width of the
pitch to cause problems for their opponents.
Two goals in three minutes turned the match in Sepahan's favour. Mohammad
Farshbaf notched the equaliser off a pass by Mahmoud Karimi in the 54th
minute and Karimi then gave his side the lead in the 57th minute after
outwitting the Arabi goalie in a one-on-one situation.
Arabi went close to drawing level when they hit the Sepahan post in the 70th
minute, but Asghar Talebnasab settled the matter three minutes later when he
ran on to a pass from Saeid Ramezani and beat the Kuwaiti offside trap to
score the decisive third goal.
It was a good result for the Iranian side but would sadly prove in vain as
Al Ittihad trounced Neftchi of Uzbekistan in a later match to advance to the
quarter-finals.
Kazemi was far from happy with the performance of his team. "The game tired
me out. Unfortunately we didn't play well in this match. My players didn’t
show the great spirit and character of champions. We scored three times but
then we declined. We really needed Navidkia."
Al Arabi coach Sebastiao Lazaroni also felt that his players could have done
better. "Seven of my players were absent and I only had 16 of my players
with me. I admit that some of them appeared to have come for a holiday,"
said the Brazilian.
"Our strategy was based on counter- attacks but we didn't pull it off.
Sepahan's substitutions were clever and I congratulate them."
Al Arabi still have a match in hand against Neftchi next week but the result
of the match will be inconsequential to the final outcome of the group.
