AFC - Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia set up an AFC Champions League semi-final showdown with Jeddah neighbours Al Ittihad after a brace by Amad Al Hosni helped them to a resounding 4-1 win over 10-man Sepahan at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on Tuesday.

The Iranian champions suffered a massive blow in the 27thminute when goalkeeper Reza Mohammadi was sent off for a foul on Taisir Al Jassim that resulted in a penalty that was converted by Victor Simoes.

Al Hosni doubled Al Ahli’s lead in the 34th minute and although the Iranian side managed to pull a goal back when Farshid  Talebi’s effort went in off Motaz Al Musa, the Oman international struck again shortly before half-time to make it 3-1 before Abdulraheem Jezawi added a fourth in the second half.

It was Al Ahli’s first win in four attempts against the Iranian side in this season’s AFC Champions League and it secured a 4-1 aggregate victory after the first leg in Esfahan had ended goalless.

While the first leg had been a largely dour affair, the return match sparked to life quickly with the first chance falling to the visitors after only 30 seconds as Mohammad Reza Khalatbari beat the Al Ahli offside trap but was denied by a superb block by goalkeeper Abdullah Al Muaiouf.

At the other end, Al Jassim had the home side’s first serious effort in the 14th minute when he saw his shot turned out for a corner by Mohammadi.

Mohammadi was solid for the Iranian club during the first leg but the Sepahan goalkeeper got into trouble soon afterwards when he received his marching orders after a foul on Al Jassim in the box that resulted in a penalty.

Khalatbari was sacrificed for substitute goalkeeper Mohammad Bagher Sadeghi, whose first task was to pick the ball out of the net after Brazilian forward Simoes had slotted home to make it 1-0.

It did not take long for the 10 men of Sepahan to concede again. In the 34th minute, a free kick from the left by Al Jassim was headed by Al Musa against the woodwork. However, Al Hosni followed up and turned the rebound in from close range.

Sepahan got a lifeline three minutes later when Talebi met a free-kick by Omid Ebrahimi and turned the ball in with some assistance from Al Musa, who was unable to hack the ball clear.

But on the stroke of half-time, Al Ahli reasserted themselves as Kamil Al Mousa sent a deep cross towards Al Hosni who headed past Sadeghi to make it 3-1.

Sadeghi made a good save to block a powersful shot by second half substitute Jezawi in the 56th minute.

But he could do little to stop the home side from going 4-1 up with 20 minutes left as Kamil Omar’s low cross was turned in by Jezawi at the far post to seal Al Ahli’s first-ever appearance in the AFC Champions League semi-finals.

Red card, penalty undid Sepahan

Sepahan coach Zlatko Kranjcar believes that his side were very much in their quarter-final second leg match against Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia until the dismissal of goalkeeper Reza Mohammadi and the resulting penalty converted by Victor Simoes which saw his side collapse to a 4-1 defeat.

With the tie in the balance after a goalless draw in the first leg in Esfahan, Mohammadi conceded a penalty and received a red card for a foul on Taisir Al Jassim in the 27thminute.

Simoes converted and Amad Al Hosni went on to score twice as Al Ahli ran out convincing winners to set up a semi-final clash against Jeddah rival Al Ittihad.

It marked the second straight year that Iranian league champions Sepahan had gone out in the last eight and Kranjcar felt that the key moment was the penalty incident.

"In the first 30 minutes of the match we had three good chances to score and if we had scored from any of those chances it would have been a different result. But we couldn't score and we paid the price," said the Croatian.

"The penalty and the red card changed the game for us and our performance dropped in the second period as we were playing with 10 men and we had only one man up front. Therefore, Al Ahli converted their chances unlike us."

"In the pre-match press conference I said that the match will be very hard for us and it was indeed hard as Al Ahli put on a good performance and they showed great capabilities."