Salim Cheniouni
Doha, Qatar- Iran’s Persepolis defeated Al Sadd 1-0 in the first leg match of the 2018 AFC Champions League semi-final, here, on Tuesday.
The ‘slim-margin’ victory against the hosts at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, has provided the edge to the Iranian side, and will act as booster when they play Al Sadd on October 23 in Tehran.
Ali Alipour’s penalty goal in the 86th minute helped the visitors clinch the crucial away victory in the match, which was highlighted by defensive measures taken by both sides. Persepolis, however, was more aggressive in defending their ground, so much so that it irked Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira, who called their tactics akin to “wrestling”.
“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. Now we have no choice but to win the return leg, so that we can maintain our chance to compete for the title. We realise how difficult it is to achieve this goal but are determined to achieve it,” Ferreira said in his post-match interview.
With defence reigning supreme, it wasn’t until the 16th minute that Al Sadd got an opportunity to open their account, which too was effectively thwarted. Al Sadd striker Akram Afif got into the box and had a go at goal, but Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand made a clear save.
Then two minutes later, Persepolis wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead. Bashar Resan crossed the ball in from the left, but, Godwin Mensha failed to convert and the ball skied over the crossbar.
The first half didn’t have much in store for the fans other than young Afif’s lively play. The 21- year old made an attempt at the goal in the 43rd minute. However, the low shot was saved by a fingertip from the diving Beiranvand.
In the second half, Al Sadd continued to build pressure, but for the Iranian defence, that even left tournament’s top scorer Baghdad Bounedjah silent.
The status quo remained as it was until the 86th minute, when Persepolis finally broke the deadlock against the run of play. Following a quick counter attack, Al Sadd custodian Saad Al Sheeb brought down Alipour in the box. The striker stepped up to take the penalty himself and made no mistake.
Afif managed to drill the ball into the net in added time, but the effort was ruled out by the referee for a foul.