Alkass Digital
Yohan Boli struck right at the end as Al Rayyan secured a crucial three points with a 1-0 win over FC Istiklol in Group A of the AFC Champions League in Riyadh yesterday.
The win takes Qatar’s Al Rayyan to 10 points and keeps their hopes of a place in the Round of 16 alive while Tajikistan’s Istiklol suffered their fifth consecutive defeat. Rayyan will aim to book their place in the last 16 when they face Al Hilal next, while Istiklol meet UAE’s Sharjah in the final round of Group A fixtures on Wednesday.
Vitaliy Levchenko made two changes to his side that conceded three goals against defending champions Al Hilal with Muhammadjon Rahimov and Mukhammad Saev starting for the Tajikistan side.
Rayyan came into the tie looking to consolidate second spot in Group A and the Qataris almost made an impact in the 12th minute when Ahmed Yasser sent a wonderful cross into the box for Hashim Ali, who failed to convert. Al Rayyan continued to dominate and came close to finding the back of the net three minutes later with captain Yacine Brahimi just missing the mark with his free-kick.
Despite playing a defensive game, Istiklol’s confidence began to grow with Nuriddin Davronov seeing his effort from 35 yards blocked in the 22nd minute, while Shahrom Suleymanov caused problems for Al Rayyan when his corner almost ended up in the back of the net.
Al Rayyan came under pressure just after the half-hour mark as goalkeeper Fahad Younis was forced to make a goal-line save, keeping out a poor clearance from Mohammed Juma as Istiklol began to attack in numbers. Al Rayyan then upped the pressure on the Istiklol defence with Steven N’zonzi firing his header wide in the 40th minute before missed efforts from Boli and Osamah al-Tairi, who tried to test Istiklol keeper Mukhriddin Khasanov from distance.
Al Rayyan quickly got to work after the restart but wasted their best chance to break the deadlock in the 50th minute when an unmarked Yasser couldn’t direct Brahimi’s corner into the back of the net.
The balance shifted in Istiklol’s favour moments later with the Tajikistan side finally getting their first shot on target in the 53rd minute from Isaev’s long-range effort which was saved by Younis.
Al Rayyan’s patience, however, was finally rewarded in the 90th minute when Boli curled in a wonderful free-kick around the Istiklol wall, with the ball bouncing off the right post and into the net for a dramatic winner.