Goal.com
October 3, 2007
Sepahan took a giant step to becoming the first Iranian club to reach the final of the Asian Champions League with a 3-1 win over Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates in the first leg of the competition’s semi-final.
The Isfahan team are firmly in the driving seat ahead of the return leg on October 24.
Mahmoud Karimi was the hero for the home team. The striker, recently returned from injury, put the hosts ahead after just 11 minutes at Foolad Shahr Sradium. Karimi latched onto a loose ball inside the area to fire home past Nadir Lamyaghri in the Al Wahda goal.
The situation became graver for Al Wahda in the 33rd minutes as defender Yasser Abdullah was shown a second yellow card and dismissed.
Despite their disadvantage, the visitors were back on level terms just after the restart, Mohamed Al Shehhi firing home from inside the area.
Karimi restored Sepahan’s lead with a close-range effort just before the hour when skipper Moharram Navidkia blasted home a penalty seven minutes from time to give the Iranian’s a two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg.
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October 4th, 2007 at 10:04 am
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Sepahan 3 – 1 Al Wahda
Here are the highlights thanks to our friends in irangoals.com
http://www.irangoals.com/2007/10/03/video-sepahan-al-wahda/
October 4th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Fantastic results for Sepahan. Now they are in a good position to advance to the final. I sincerely hope they make it to the last stage.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
I just saw some of game’s highlights. Al Wahda seemed like a team with well-coordinated attacking players and a skilled goal keeper. The return leg may not be an easy match, but I think with a good strategy which Sepahan’s coach should be able to devise for his team, they now have a good chance of reaching the final.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
It is fantastic Behrad jAn. I hope they do not go to UAE and try to defend for 90 minutes. That would be a disaster!
If Sepahanwins or draws they will go through. They will also go through if they lose 1-0 or 2-1. 2-0 loss would send Al Wahda through due to the one away goal they scored in Isfahan. So the odds are heavly in favor of Sepahan.