Home win not enough for Sepahan

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.