AFCL - A late Ali Daei brace helped Saba
Battery beat Al Gharafa 4-1 and keep alive the Iranian side's hopes of
reaching the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.
All five goals came in an action-packed second half, but it was not until
Daei's intervention in the 77th and 83rd minutes that Saba looked like they
were headed for a vital three points after Abdulla Al Mazroui had put the
visitors ahead not long after the restart.
They now face a winner-takes-all showdown in the final game in Group C
against Syria's Al Karama in a fortnight for a place in the knockout stages.
Saba were in charge throughout the first half, although chances went begging
to turn their dominance into goals.
Inevitably, Daei was involved in most of their best work and he could have
had a hat-trick shortly before the interval.
First he turned and shot wide when well placed before heading wastefully
past the post after meeting Hossain Yousefi's hanging cross from the left.
And then on the stroke of half-time Daei could not get enough on a corner
kick swung into the middle and the opportunity passed.
Their Qatari opponents, who are unable to qualify for the quarter-finals
after winning just once in the competition, had scarcely threatened in the
opening 45 minutes.
And at the start of the second half, they were again under the cosh until
they sprang a surprise by taking the lead.
On a rare quick break, Al Mazroui's dribbling bamboozled the retreating
Yahya Golmohammadi and Mohsen Bayat and his shot flew in with 10 minutes of
the second half gone.
The goal spurred Saba into action and they were quickly back threatening the
Al Gharafa back line.
It took until the 72nd minute for Mohammad Hossain Ziaie's men to restore
parity when Daei met Mohammad Navazi's cross with a header that Alen Avdic
redirected into the net.
From that point on there was only going to be one winner as the hosts
flooded forward in search of more goals and the second duly arrived through
the irrepressible Daei.
A delicate finish from close range put Saba justly ahead and then seven
minutes from time the game was made safe when the man who will lead Iran's
attack at the World Cup headed home his second and the team’s third.
And with the game in injury time, Golmohammadi turned in another inviting
Navazi centre to give the final score a representative look.
