Iran’s Foolad Khuzestan scraped into the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League courtesy of a cagey 1-0 over Saudi Arabia’s Al Faisaly yesterday. Both sides were meeting for the first time ever in the tournament and aiming to make up for their poor form in their respective domestic leagues where they are struggling to keep pace with their rivals.
While Al Faisaly were relegated from the Saudi Pro League to the First Division after they made the last-16 of the continental tournament, Foolad are way down in ninth position in the Iran Pro League, a whopping 18 points behind leaders Sepahan.
But with plenty to play for, it was Foolad who made the most of the situation with Sasan Ansari’s 64th minute strike proving decisive at the Al Thumama Stadium. Foolad enjoyed 54 percent possession but had only three shots on target, with Ansari scoring off one of those with a right-footed shot.
Six minutes earlier, Roberto Torres had his shot saved by the Al Fasaily goalkeeper Ahmed al-Kassar despite being wrong-footed by a deflection. Torres was a constant thorn for the Saudi side, the Spaniard going close at the 30-minute mark, his curling free-kick from about 25 yards out just missing the post
Al Faisaly, on the other hand, barely produced a shot on target as they struggled to crack the Iranians’ defence. Foolad’s moment of joy came in the 64th minute when some lacklustre defending by Waleed al-Ahmed saw Ansari snatch the ball and deposit it into the net from close.
Al-Ahmed could have compensated for his blunder one minute before the final whistle but his fine headed attempt off an excellent Abdulla al-Qahtani corner just missed the target. On Sunday, Qatar’s Al Duhail and Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab had made the quarter-finals in Doha where teams from the West Asian half of the continent are contesting to earn the right to meet Japan’s Urawa Reds in the final.