Gulf Times
Head coach Hernan Crespo expressed his delight with his Al Duhail side’s ability to take their chances as they came from behind twice to defeat Pakhtakor 3-2 in Group D of the AFC Champions League on Thursday.
The Qatari side went into the break a goal down, but a second-half hat-trick from Edmilson Junior helped them collect their first three points of the campaign, leaving them second in the group behind Al Taawoun with both teams having six points to their names.
“The match was very exciting for the fans, but we as a team suffered a lot,” said Crespo, whose side waited until the 84th minute to find the winner. “I am really happy for the players who put in a lot of effort, both physically and mentally, and managed to get three valuable points.
“We controlled the game in the first half, but the opponent was the one who managed to take the lead, but in the second half we created many chances and managed to take advantage of them perfectly. We were able to equalise the score twice before achieving victory in the end.”
Al Duhail had failed to advance from the group stage in their last two appearances in the competition, but at the halfway point of the group, they find themselves with as good a chance as any of their rivals to reach the knockout stage. “I think that talking about qualifying for the next round is still early, there are three more rounds, and therefore we have to focus on each match alone and continue to do more in order to achieve victories and get more points,” Duhail coach said.
Crespo’s opposite number Slavce Vojneski was left to rue mistakes as his Pakhtakor side suffered their second defeat in three matches. The match was very strong and exciting between the two teams,” said the Northern Macedonian.
“The two sides exchanged control of the game throughout the two halves, and I think we missed a victory that would have been within our reach had it not been for some mistakes.
“We tried to remain fully focused throughout the match, and we managed to lead twice, but the opponents were more successful in exploiting their chances, especially during the second half, which they managed to settle in their favour. I think we had some problems on the left flank, through which we conceded most of the opponents’ goals, which we have to fix in the next matches.”
The two sides face-off again tomorrow where a repeat of the result could massively derail Pakhtakor’s campaign, while victory would open up the race for the knockout stage in Group D.