Qatar’s Al Sadd missed out on an outright place into the last 16 of the AFC Champions League as they were held to a 1-1 draw by their Saudi hosts Al Nassr in Riyadh yesterday.GroupB leaders Al Sadd, who had defeated their Saudi rivals 1-0 in Doha a fortnight ago, were well on course to make it the knock-out stage when Majdi Siddique gave them a lead in the 36th minute. But the home team picked themselves up in the second half and Hussain Abdul Ghanim scored in the 74th minute to cancel out the Al Sadd advantage.The result leaves Al Sadd on eight points, three clear of Al Nassr. Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan defeated Iran’s Esteghlal 2-1 to keep their hopes alive for the last 16 as both have four points with two games to go.But Al Rayyan’s continental campaign came to an early end yesterday after losing 1-0 away to Iran’s Zobahan in Group D.
Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori’s side, who finished third in the Qatar Stars League, needed a victory to remain in the competition but Esmail Farhadi put the hosts into the lead in the 22nd minute. With the win Zobahan now lead the group on 10 points.The Iranian giants, who also won the first leg 3-1 in Doha, were hoping for Emirates to lose to runners-up Al Shabab in the other group which would have guaranteed them a place in the last 16. But the match in Ras Al Khamiah produced exactly the opposite result, as Emirates stunned Al Shabab 2-1 to blow the group wide open. Hadj Bougueche scored twice as the second-tier UAE club recorded their second victory in this season’s competition to move ahead of Al Shabab – who beat them 4-1 two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia – to take up second place in the table on six points to give themselves every chance of reaching the last 16. Substitute Abdulaziz Saran pulled a goal back just before the interval before both sides were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes to go when the striker and Mustafa Saaed saw red amid some disgraceful scenes.The other Qatari side, Al Gharafa, will be looking to avoid the fate of Al Rayyan when they entertain Group A rivals Iran’s Sepahan in Doha today.Former Qatar national team coach Bruno Metsu’s side are in a precarious situation with just one point from three games. They went down 2-0 away to Sepahan two weeks ago that saw the latter maintain their perfect record in this season’s competition. Anything less than a win today will mark an early end to their AFC campaign.Al Gharafa’s cause is not helped either by a raft of injuries and suspensions to Mirghani Babiker and Bilal Abdulrahman.“We are in a tough situation with only 15 fit players available for selection. We have just one reserve goalkeeper but no defenders on the bench. This is not an easy situation for us,” Metsu lamented, talking to reporters on the eve of the match. “We don’t have a choice but to go for a win. So I’ve demanded all my players to give 100 percent,” he added.Sepahan, by contrast, have won their first three games and coach Amir Ghalenoei is eager for a fourth successive victory in order to help secure a home tie in the Round of 16.Meanwhile, AFP report says Japan’s Kashima Antlers were held 1-1 by Suwon Bluewings in their first appearance on home soil since last month’s devastating earthquake. In other games in the eastern side of the draw, goals from Mu Kanazaki and Kensuke Nagai gave Nagoya Grampus a 2-0 victory at FC Seoul to put the Japanese champions on top of Group F, while Sydney FC were dramatic winners in Shanghai. Kashima were forced to play in Tokyo’s National Stadium after their own ground was badly damaged in the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the country, stalling the domestic J-League season.