Al Jazira UAE player Abdelaziz Barrada (10) shoots to score against Qatar Al Rayyan during their AFC Championship League soccer match in Doha yesterday. (Reuters)

By Sports Reporter/Doha



It was another bad day yesterday in the AFC Champions League for Qatar as both El Jaish and Al Rayyan ended up on the losing side. Jaish lost their away match 1-3 to Iranian side Foolad Khouzestan while Rayyan lost 2-2 at home to UAE side Al Jazira.
This loss means that Rayyan who have managed only three points from their five matches so far have been eliminated and their opponents Jazira have qualified for the next round. For Jaish, the loss hasn’t been too costly, since they can still progress in the tournament. Jaish is currently second in Group B with eight points and they will play their last match against Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor who have five points. If Jaish win that match, they will qualify for the pre-quarter-finals. Jaish will have home advantage for that match.
Rayyan couldn’t use the home advantage to their benefit. The game was goalless for the best part of the first half. But in the dying minutes, Jazira’s Abdelaziz Barrada found the back of the net. Though Rayyan went into the break on a low after conceding a goal so close to the whistle, they came back with a positive intent. Three minutes into the second half, their attacking play saw them being awarded a penalty and Yakubu Aiyegbeni converted it with ease. With the momentum on their side, Rayyan then took the lead through Musa Haroon in the 53rd minute. But then it was the turn of the visitors to step on the gas and they got the equaliser through Ali Ahmed Mabkhout in the 60th minute. And then it was heartbreak time for Rayyan as they gifted the match to Jazeera with an own goal by Yong-Hyung Cho in the 90th minute. If they had even managed to draw the match, Rayyan would have got a precious point and gained a mathematical chance to progress in the tournament. But it wasn’t to be.
Iranian side Foolad qualified for the Round of 16 in only their second AFC Champions League campaign after their win over Jaish crowned them as Group B winners.
A draw was the minimum Khouzestan needed from their home tie with El Jaish but after going behind to Nilmar’s opener on 10 minutes they responded with an acrobatic leveller from captain Bahktiar Rahmani on 23 minutes and the go-ahead goal from Gholam Rezaei eight minutes.
Substitute Chimba’s fine strike in stoppage time was an extra bonus for the newly-crowned Iran Pro League champions, who had exited at the group stages of their AFC Champions League debut in 2006, and they remain undefeated in this year’s continental competition.
Victory for either side would take them through to the knock out stages as winners of Group B, and it was the visitors who drew first blood through the prolific forward Nilmar 10 minutes into the game.
Taking advantage of a moment’s hesitation in the Khouzestan defence, the Brazilian burst into the box, beat Ayoub Vali, and watched his shot loop off the foot of the already committed Sousha Makani and into the net over the sliding efforts of Omid Khaledi.
Stung into action after going behind, Khouzestan responded and drew level in spectacular fashion through Rahmani on 23 minutes.
Sasan Ansari teed up Rahmani inside the penalty area and the captain pulled off an athletic overhead kick to send the ball flying past Ahmed Sofyan in the El Jaish goal.
The home side clearly gained momentum following the equaliser, and Mehrdad Jamaati went close to putting the Iranian side in front after he was set-up by Ansari but Sofyan was equal to the shot diving to his right.
But with eight minutes of the half remaining Khouzestan got the second goal their exciting attacking play warranted. Soroush Rafie sent Khaledi through on the right flank and his accurate cut-back from the byline found Rezaei lurking on the penalty spot to exquisitely volley home into the top corner.
El Jaish came out strongly after the interval and sought to restore parity and thereby ensure their own place in the Round of 16. But while they showed greater penetration and desire,  Makani had relatively few taxing saves to make.
Khouzestan, meanwhile, eagerly participated in the sometimes gung-ho approach to the game as they pushed forward in numbers looking to put the game to bed.
And their second half substitute Chimba went closest to ending the tie as a contest on 70 minutes as Rezaei’s precise pass put him through on goal but the Brazilian’s finish was lacking as he rolled the ball narrowly wide of the far corner.
But with time running out the forward’s next effort on goal was much improved as the 30-year-old unleashed a viciously hit low drive from the edge of the penalty area that beat Sofyan at his near post to claim all three points and a place in the Round of 16 for Khouzestan.