Bonacic satisfied with stalemate

AFCCL - Sepahan coach Luka Bonacic admitted he was happy with his side’s scoreless draw at home against Kawasaki Frontale of Japan in the first leg of their AFC Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday.

Despite going into the match at Foolad Shahr Stadium off the back of four wins out of five in the embryonic Iran Pro League season, Sepahan looked hesitant and nervous in a match which saw the best of the few chances falling to the visitors.

“We are very happy that it’s ended 0-0. Today we didn’t play as well as we normally do,” said Bonacic, who denied that his team were nervous.

“We were not stressed at all. This is football and many of our players didn’t play well.

“Kawasaki were much better in the first half but we improved in the second half. Overall, we didn’t play well.”

Sepahan went into the match without striker Seyed Salehi, their top scorer in the group stage with four goals. His strength and aerial presence were conspicuous in their absence as his replacement, the diminutive Mahmoud Karimi, failed to shine as the lone striker.

Despite scoring five goals in as many matches on the domestic front, Karimi fluffed his lines when presented with Sepahan’s best chance of the match.

He failed to control a long ball which beat the Kawasaki defence, allowing goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima to come out of his goal and block the shot.

Salehi’s knee injury means that he will miss the second leg in Japan next week, leaving Bonacic to ponder where his goals are going to come from.

“He (Salehi) was our top scorer in the group and we will miss him. He won’t be available in the second leg but we have a plan.

“The first half (of the tie) is over and we have to think about the second half.”