Apr 27, 2006
afcchampionsleague.com

TEHRAN – Foolad coach Nenad Nikolic was left to rue his side's second half capitulation to Pakhtakor as the Uzbek champions notched up a 3-1 win over their Iranian hosts on Wednesday evening.

Goals from Renat Bayramov, Vladislav Kiryan and Komoloddin Tadjiev cancelled out Meysam Soleimani's opener for the home side as Pakhtakor moved into a strong position at the top of the group standings.

Foolad coach Nenad Nikolic

My boys didn't play normally, I really didn't know how to organise them on the pitch. We've been making the same mistakes for a long time and there has to be a solution to the problem. I think we are repeating the same mistakes in the ACL as we committed in Iran Pro League. Day by day we are getting used to making such foolish mistakes.

I haven't got any idea what we must do to change these conditions. Our faults during the game were unimaginable and indescribable.

Before the match I recommended to my boys that they keep a close eye on their no. 8 (Server Djeparov), but they didn't listen to my advice. I'm not able to give any reason for conceding two goals in just two minutes; these two goals completed our awful performance.

I'm not going to give excuses for our bitter loss, but I guess fatigue and a lack of concentration were the major causes of our failure.

Pakhtakor coach Valeri Nepomniatchi

Our rivals committed many mistakes. In fact, their mistakes helped us a great deal to get the most favorable result.

I thought there was a tiny chance we would win the game, but I never ever had thought of crushing Foolad on their own pitch.

These three vital away points can surely push us ahead for next rounds.

During the first half, my boys performed poorly but following my half-time team talk they outplayed the hosts in the second 45 minutes.