Nilmar Da Silva (9) of Qatar’s Al Rayyan prepares to score a goal next to UAE’s Al Ain goalkeeper Mahmood Al-Tenaiji during their AFC Champions League match at the Al Rayyan Stadium in Doha, yesterday. Al Rayyan won 2-1.
Doha: Qatar Stars League (QSL) clubs Lekhwiya and Al Rayyan won their respective matches in the AFC Champions League yesterday.
In Doha, Jaralla Al Marri scored with four minutes remaining to earn Al Rayyan their first win as the Qatari side saw off inaugural ACL champions Al Ain yesterday.
In Tashkent, QSL champions Lekhwiya extended their unbeaten AFC Champions League record this season after sharing a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan counterparts Pakhtakor in Group B yesterday.
Sebastian Soria’s fourth goal of the campaign had set Lekhwiya on their way to following up last week’s 3-1 win over Pakhtakor in Doha only for Gulom Urunov to also score for the second consecutive game to pull the home side level in spectacular fashion midway through the first half.
Dame Traore’s own goal just after half-time then gave Pakhtakor hope of reclaiming their place at the top of the table, but Tunisian midfielder Youssef Msakni struck midway through the second half to maintain Lekhwiya’s one point lead over the Uzbekistan champions at the top of the table.
“Both teams played well tonight, I think draw was a fair result,” said Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets.
“We scored very fast and then players tried to defend and Pakhtakor equalised as a result of this. Our opponent is good and they have a lot of experience in the AFC Champions League.
“If we win both matches, the two teams that played today can qualify to the next round, but we expect two interesting games.”
Having scored twice in the closing stages last week to secure the win for Lekhwiya, Soria handed the visitors the ideal start at Pakhtakor Stadium as the Qatar international converted Issiar Dia’s inviting right wing cross from the edge of the six-yard area with barely 15 seconds on the clock.
But Pakhtakor were back on level terms midway through the first half as Lekhwiya could only partially clear a free-kick to the edge of the penalty area and Urunov ran in before spectacularly dispatching the dropping ball into the bottom corner with a first- time volley.
And Pakhtakor completed the turnaround 10 minutes into the second half as France-born naturalised Qatari defender Traore bundled Jamshid Iskanderov’s near post cross into his own net.
But Lekhwiya responded seven minutes after the hour mark as Msakni headed home Nam Tae-hee cross from the edge of the six-yard area with Pakhtakor goalkeeper Alexander Lobanov given no chance.
“We made serious mistake in the first minute of the match after I told my players that they should be ready from the beginning,” said Pakhtakor coach Murod Ismailov.
“But it is good that we made a comeback and scored two goals. We had a very good chance in the last few minutes, but the striker couldn`t take it.
“We played well and the players tried to secure the winning goal until the last seconds of the match.” In Doha, Al Rayyan remain in contention for a place in the knockout rounds of the tournament while Al Ain missed out on the opportunity to put pressure on Iran’s Esteghlal, group leaders at the start of the day’s play.
Brazilian forward Nilmar gave Al Rayyan the lead just before the hour mark while Yousef Ahmed levelled the scores. However, just seconds after Alex Brosque hit the crossbar for Al Ain, Al Marri scored from close range to seal the win for his club.
“We achieved an important win which got us back into contention as we have now four points in the group,” said Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre.
“We knew how to get back into the match, especially when Al Ain scored the equaliser at an important time in the match.
“We had great difficulties in the first half and we had to find solutions in order to regain control of the game. We put in a better performance in the second half and scored from the chances that we had. We must concentrate on the next two matches.”
Al Ain had won the corresponding fixture between the two clubs last week in the United Arab Emirates and Cosmin Olariou’s side looked the most likely to strike first in the opening 45 minutes. Agencies
