Tractor and Zob Ahan victorious in ACL

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AFC Champions League group play continued as Sepahan, Zob Ahan, and Tractor Sazi were looking to move closer to the knockout phase.

Group A

Sepahan’s slide continued as they were blanked 1-0 by Lokomotiv Tashkent on 8 April. Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov scored the only goal of the match nine minutes into the second half. A scoreless draw between Al-Nasr of UAE and Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in Dubai means that Lokomotiv currently sit in the top position of the group with eight points, followed by Al-Nasr with seven points.

Meanwhile, Sepahan have been shut out three consecutive matches after starting the AFC Champions League group play with a win over Al-Nasr in late February. The Isfahani club now sit at the bottom of the group with only three points but trail Al-Ittihad on goal difference.

Group B

At the Foolad Shahr Stadium in Isfahan on 5 April, hosts Zob Ahan throttled Bunyodkor of Taskhent 5-2. Danial Esmaeilifar put the hosts in the lead after only three minutes. In the 34th minute, defender Vahid Mohammadzadeh extended the lead to 2-0.

Five minutes into the second half, captain Mehdi Rajabzadeh made it 3-0 for Zob Ahan and nearly twenty minutes later, forward Kaveh Rezaei celebrated his 24th birthday by extending the lead to 4-0.

Tunisian midfielder Chaker Zouaghi finally got Bunyodkor on the board nine minutes later to cut the lead to 4-1 but midfielder Morteza Tabrizi added a fifth for Zob Ahan in the eighty-seventh minute to make it 5-1. Two minutes later, Shahzodbek Nurmatov pulled one back for Bunyodkor but the damage was done in a 5-2 victory for Zob Ahan.

Entering this match, Zob Ahan had five points from one win and two draws but only scored one goal. Zob Ahan clearly have been playing solid defense being led by Head Coach Yahya Golmohammadi but this time they made sure to find more offense when it was badly needed.

In the other group match, Lekhwiya of Qatar destroyed Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr 4-0. Zob Ahan sit on top of the group with eight points. Lekhwiya and Al-Nassr are tied with five points but the Qatari club have a better goal difference while Bunyodkor are at the bottom of the group with two points.

Group C

Tractor Sazi rebounded from their 1-0 defeat to Pakhtakor in Tashkent last month. This time, Tractor defeated Pakhtakor 2-0 in Tabriz on 6 April.

Brazilian midfielder Augusto gave Tractor the lead at the hour mark. Seven minutes from time, Saeid Aghaei added the finishing touches to give Tractor the victory in front of thirty-three thousand fans in attendance at the Yadegar Emam Stadium.

In the other group match, Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia defeated Emirati club Al-Jazira 1-0.

The Red Wolves of Tabriz sit on top of the group with nine points and are followed by Al-Hilal with eight points, Pakhtakor with four, and Al-Jazira with one.