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.
