Persepolis have one foot in the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League as the Iranian giants clinched a crucial 1-0 away victory over Qatar’s Al Sadd in a physical semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira described the game in Doha as a “wrestling match.”
Striker Ali Alipour scored the all-important goal from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb brought him down just inside the box.
Photo: AFP
Alipour placed his shot to al-Sheeb’s left and although the goalkeeper made a valiant dive, he could not prevent the ball from going into the net.
The Al Sadd players furiously protested the penalty, but Sri Lankan referee Dilan Perera stuck to his guns and also booked goalkeeper al-Sheeb in the process.
Persepolis’ defensive nature was evident throughout the match, which saw them make few inroads into Al Sadd territory.
There were several skirmishes and plenty of pushing and shoving as the tough-tackling Iranians made their intentions clear.
The strategy paid off well as they were able to keep Al Sadd’s prolific striker Baghdad Bounedjah silent throughout the match and blunted many of Akram Afif’s thrusts into the penalty area.
Bounedjah, the Algerian who is top scorer in the tournament with 12 goals so far, hardly managed a decent shot at goal, with the resolute Jalal Hosseini, the Persepolis captain, exceling in defense.
Al Sadd only have themselves to blame for not making the most of the 66 percent ball possession that they enjoyed.
Afif had the best chance for Al Sadd, but the forward saw his low shot in the 43rd minute deflected away from the goal by Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, who displayed great anticipation and presence of mind throughout.
Late in the match, Afif managed to knock the ball into the net as Beiranvand tossed it into the air for a goal-kick, but the goal was disallowed by the referee.
Al Sadd coach Ferreira was unhappy at Persepolis’ approach to the game.
“The Iranian team is a very difficult team. They were playing wrestling and this is not football. We fought a lot over the course of the match,” the Portuguese veteran said.
“Now we have no choice but to win the return leg,” Ferreira added. “We realize how difficult it is to achieve this goal, but are determined to achieve it.”
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS