Kuruvchi claim maiden ACL win

AFC - Second half goals from Ulugbek Bakaev and Timur Kapadze earned Kuruvchi a 2-0 win over Sepahan in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday to win their first-ever ACL victory and leave last year's beaten finalists in serious trouble in Group A.

Sepahan's hopes of emulating their run to the 2007 final - where they lost to Japan's Urawa Reds - suffered another major set-back following their opening day loss to Al Ittihad Aleppo last Wednesday.

The result leaves the Iranian side pointless after the first two match days while Kuruvchi picked up their first points following last week's defeat against former champions Al Ittihad from Saudi Arabia.

After a goal-less first half, the Uzbeks took the lead in the 61st minute when Bakaev headed Server Djeparov's cross beyond Abbas Mohammadi.

Nineteen minutes later Kuruvchi doubled their advantage when Kapadze beat two defenders after latching on to Djeparov's throw-in to leave Sepahan's hopes of reaching the knockout phase hanging by a thread.

The win was no less than Kuruvchi deserved after dominating the opening period and former Pakhtakor midfielder Djeparov went closest to claiming the first goal of the game eight minutes before the half-time break.

Djeparov managed to fire off an effort from the edge of the area, but Mohammadi was alert enough to push the ball wide for a corner.

Seven minutes later Kuruvchi went close again, only for Bakaev to head Rashidjob Gofurov's cross over Mohammadi's crossbar.

Jorvan Vieira's Sepahan side suffered another scare two minutes into the second half when Djeparov's free kick was headed towards his own by Hossein Kazemi, only for the ball to come back off the crossbar.

The hosts then saw appeals for a penalty turned down in the 50th minute when Gofurov appeared to have been brought down by Jalal Akbari while a minute later Seyed Mohammad Salei missed a gilt-edged opportunity at the other end.

Kuruvchi hit the woodwork again in the 55th minute when Mohammadi pushed Djeparov's free-kick onto the crossbar but the home side's persistence paid off when, just after the hour mark, Bakaev's header gave the Sepahan goalkeeper little chance.

After seeing off several Sepahan sorties into their penalty area, Kuruvchi sealed the win with ten minutes remaining when Kapadze beat Hamid Azizzadeh and Akbari before scoring past Mohammadi.

Hossein Papi and Seyed Had Aghily went close to claiming a consolation for Sepahan in the dying minutes, but their effort came to nothing.