AFCCL – Iranian side Sepahan set up a
meeting with Urawa Reds of Japan in the AFC Champions League final after
battling to a goalless draw with Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates at Al
Nahyan Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg, the Hazfi Cup holders held on to their
advantage with a disciplined defensive performance that made them the first
club from their country to reach the final of Asia’s premier club
competition.
Al Wahda needed to score at least two goals to rescue the tie after their
3-1 loss in the first leg in Esfahan and they went close to halving the
deficit in the opening minute as a low shot from 25 metres by Tawfeeq Abdul
Razzaq ball skipped off the ground awkwardly in front of the Sepahan goal
and bounced off the shoulder of goalkeeper Abbas Mohammadi.
Abdul Razzaq was then released down the left channel by an excellent through
ball from Ismail Matar in the sixth minute but his shot from a tight angle
was well covered by Mohammadi
Al Wahda dominated the opening 45 minutes but found themselves restricted to
shots from distance by the well drilled Sepahan defence.
However, the Iranian side were nearly caught out on the half-hour mark when
Al Wahda were awarded a free kick on the right edge of the box. Matar played
a cheeky low shot under the wall that went straight on target but did not
deceive the alert Mohammadi, who stopped the ball on the goal line.
Sepahan spent much of the first period in their own half but they nearly
opened the scoring against the run of play on 33 minutes.
Mahmoud Karimi gathered the ball on the left flank and shook off a couple of
challenges before slipping a magnificent through ball past defender Haidar
Alo Ali to an advancing Ehsan Hajysafi, who had only goalkeeper Nadir
Lamyaghri to beat but put his shot wide of the right post.
A mistake by Lamyaghri in stoppage time at the end of the half could have
proved costly for the home side. The Moroccan goalkeeper came off his line
to gather a high free kick but dropped the ball at the feet of Karimi, who
appeared to have the goal at his mercy only to be denied by a great covering
tackle by Basheer Saeed before he could get a shot away.
Sepahan began the second half confidently and nearly extended their
aggregate lead in the 48th minute when Hadi Jafari’s shot from 25 metres
just cleared the crossbar
The pace picked up and on 50 minutes, Lamyaghri bravely came out to deny an
advancing Jafari and launched a quick counter attack which saw the ball
break eventually to Matar, who launched a low shot from 20 metres that
skimmed past the left upright.
Al Wahda should have broken the deadlock in the 73rd minute as Mohamed Al
Shehhi slipped the ball through to Matar, who cut the ball from the right
byline past Mohammadi. Mahmoud Khamis was waiting in the middle but his
hasty attempt went wide of the near post.
With eight minutes remaining, substitute Saeed Al Kathiri went close with a
drive from distance that forced an excellent driving save from Mohammadi.
From the resulting corner, the ball fell to Mohamed Othman but his low
effort was well covered by Mohammadi.
Sepahan nearly stole a winner three minutes from time as Mohsen Hamidi
brought down the ball in the Al Wahda box and dragged the ball back to elude
the challenge of Haidar Alo Ali only to fire his shot straight at Lamyaghri.
The demoralised UAE side had clearly given up by that point and nearly
conceded deep into injury time as Abdul Wahab Abolheil was allowed to wander
completely unmarked into the box only to be denied by another save by
Lamyaghri.
