Alkass Digital
Head coach Hernan Crespo has vowed to march on after claiming their first win, with Al Duhail SC to face off against Pakhtakor FC on Matchday Three of Group D in the AFC Champions League™ 2022 at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium on Thursday.
With the midway point of the group stage just around the corner, all four teams in the group are tied on three points with a win and a loss each.
This may pave the way for an exciting run in, bearing in mind that only the group winners will progress automatically to the Round of 16. Al Duhail’s campaign had a rough start, losing out against group hosts Al Taawoun, but they did bounce back beating Sepahan FC in the previous round, with Michael Olunga scoring late on to secure a 1-0 win.
Edmilson has impressed in both games, providing the bulk of the attacking threat for the Qatar Stars League side, and capping it off with an exceptionally taken goal on the opening day.“The game against Sepahan was a difficult one,” said Crespo. “We managed to get the three points though, and that’s what we hope to achieve when we face Pakhtakor in our next match.
"I think they are a formidable side and will be a tough challenge, we saw what they can do when they faced Al Taawoun. They are a good attacking side too, yet we have a strong defence that can counter their threat. I’m confident in our abilities.”Similarly, Pakhtakor’s AFC Champions League campaign started off with a 3-1 reversal against Sepahan, in which Dragan Ceran initially took the lead for Uzbek Super League champions before three second-half Sepahan goals sealed their fate.
They did bounce back with a win against Al Taawoun with the lively Khojimat Erkinov - creator of Ceran’s goal against Sepahan - coming on as a substitute and scoring the winner. Head coach Slavce Vojneski appeared to have reasons for the first defeat, but asserted the level of preparedness his side had reached coming into their next match.
“Al Duhail are a big side, on paper they are the strongest in the group,” said Vojneski.“In the first game, we lost because of travel issues and minor mistakes. We have prepared very well for this game in the knowledge that they are an experienced side with several internationals. We managed to bounce back in the last game from our first loss, so now we’re in it with a shout.
“It is very difficult to play so many games in a short period of time, this pressures both the players and the coaching staff really hard. Either way, we have to adapt in order to achieve good results. We will do this for ourselves and our fans back in Uzbekistan.”The two sides have met previously back in the 2013 edition of the AFC Champions League when Lekhwiya, Al Duhail’s predecessor, managed a 3-1 win in Doha followed by a 2-2 draw in Tashkent, all within six days.
The game in the Uzbek capital saw the fastest goal in AFC Champions League history when Sebastian Soria opened the visitors’ account after only 12 seconds.