5/7/2008
the-afc.com

ALEPPO – Al Ittihad Aleppo fought back from a goal down to hand last year's AFC Champions League finalists Sepahan a 2-1 defeat on Wednesday evening, ending the Iranian side's hopes of progressing to the knockout phase and sending Kuruvchi into the quarter-finals.

Goals from Venezuelan pair Jonathan Perez and Jesus Gomez in four second half minutes denied Sepahan the win they needed to keep their chase of the Uzbeks alive going into the final round of matches.

The result means Kuruvchi cannot be overtaken at the top of Group A and Mirdjalal Kasimov's team will go through to the last eight in their debut season in the continental championship.

Hadi Aghily had controversially put Sepahan in front in the 47th minute when his header was deflected towards the target and a goal was awarded despite Yahya Al Rached looking like he had cleared the ball before it had crossed the line.

Sepahan went close to doubling their advantage in the 57th minute when Abdulwahab Abuhail crashed his shot against the crossbar from 25 yards out before Seyed Mohammed Salehi pushed the rebound over the line, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag to rule the effort out.

Four minutes later, though, Al Ittihad pulled level thanks to a top class finish by Perez, whose right foot effort from just inside the penalty area seared into the top corner.

By the 65th minute the Syrian side were in front thanks to another high quality strike when Gomez was first to react after Masoud Hamami had saved Otobng Otudor's header to curl his shot high into the goal.

The result was a cruel blow for a Sepahan side who dominated the game throughout the 90 minutes.

Mohsen Bengar forced a fine reaction save from Yasser Jarkas just eight minutes into the game while six minutes later Iraqi international striker Emad Mohammed thought he had put Sepahan in front when he slotted the ball past Jarkas, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

As it was, though, Sepahan were incapable of securing the win needed to keep their challenge alive and Jorvan Vieira's side exited the tournament as they failed to match the heroics of last season.

COACHES' COMMENTS

ALEPPO – Al Ittihad Aleppo coach Tita Valeriu conceded his side had an element of luck as they battled back from a goal down to defeat last year's AFC Champions League finalists Sepahan 2-1 on Wednesday evening.

Hadi Aghily controversially put Sepahan in front in the 47th minute when his header was deflected towards the target and a goal was awarded despite Yahya Al Rached looking like he had cleared the ball before it had crossed the line.

But goals from Venezuelan pair Jonathan Perez and Jesus Gomez in four second-half minutes denied Sepahan the win they needed to keep their chase of Kuruvchi alive.

The result means the Uzbek side cannot be overtaken at the top of Group A and Mirdjalal Kasimov's team will go through to the last eight in their debut season in the continental championship.

"I'm pleased with the performance of the team in what was a very open game," said Valeriu.

"In the first half our performance was not good while Sepahan controlled the play and had several chances.

"But although Sepahan took the lead we managed to score two goals which gave us the win.

"Today we were lucky and luck was what we have missed in the previous matches.

“We organised the defensive line and we made few mistakes and that was the main reason behind the victory."

In contrast to Valeriu, Sepahan coach Jorvan Vieira bemoaned his side's lack of fortune in the game, insisting the referee ruled out a goal he felt was perfectly legitimate.

"We scored two correct goals and the referee denied us the lead early in the game which affected the players," said Vieira.

"We had several chances to score and it was strange how our strikers missed those chances. The result of the match between Kuruvchi and Al Ittihad had put pressure on our players.

"The game was very hard especially because Al Ittihad are not an easy team. We had a good game but we were affected by the pressure while Al Ittihad scored two goals in four quick minutes."