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Qatar international Sebastian Soria scored two late goals as unbeaten Lekhwiya beat Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor 3-1 yesterday to leapfrog the AFC Champions League ever-presents at the top of Group B. |
Issiar Dia set the Qatar champions on their way midway through the first half at Lekhwiya Stadium only for Gulom Urunov to pull Pakhtakor, who entered the match with a perfect record after posting wins over Ettifaq and Al Shabab Al Arabi, level before half-time.
But Soria restored the home side’s lead with six minutes remaining before the striker sealed Lekhwiya’s second win in Group B with his third of the campaign in stoppage time as Eric Gerets’ side moved a point clear of the Uzbekistan champions at the top of the table with three games remaining.
Dia opened the scoring with a fine solo goal after 21 minutes as the Senegal international created space for himself on the edge of the Pakhtakor penalty area before curling his effort into the far corner away from goalkeeper Temur Juraev and via the inside the upright.
But Pakhtakor were back on levels terms before half-time as Urunov found the bottom corner with a rasping first-time drive at the second time of asking after the midfielder’s initial attempt had been blocked just outside the Lekhwiya area.
Lekhwiya twice came close to regaining the lead at the start of the second half as a free-kick Korea Republic midfielder Nam Tee-hee struck the outside of the post before Juraev had to be on his toes to push away a stinging effort from Luiz Junior (Luiz Mairton Carlos Júnior).
But with six minutes remaining Soria’s header from Luiz Junior’s back post cross looped perfectly over Juraev and nestled in the side netting.
Meanwhile, in Al Ain, inaugural AFC Champions League winners Al Ain bounced back from their defeat at the hands of Esteghlal on matchday 2 as Omar Abdulrahman inspired the Emiratis to a 2-1 win over Qatar’s Al Rayyan in Group D.
The United Arab Emirates international and Gulf Cup MVP set up goals for Jires Kembo-Ekoko and Alex Brosque as Al Ain fought back after going behind to a strike by Nilmar (Honorato da Silva Nilmar) as Cosmin Olariou’s side move on to six points from three games in this year’s campaign.
Al Rayyan, meanwhile, remain at the foot of the group having picked up just one point from their three games as the battle for a place in the Round of 16 intensifies.
The Qataris took the lead against the run of play as Al Ain dominated the opening exchanges, with Mirel Radoi and Kembo-Ekoko both going close from long range in the first quarter of the game.
In the 32nd minute, though, Al Rayyan went in front when Al Ain goalkeeper Mahmood al-Mas misjudged a speculative punt forward, and the ball fell at the feet of Nilmar, who slotted into an unguarded net.
Al Rayyan’s lead only lasted for two minutes, however, as Al Ain picked up the tempo.
Abdulrahman’s perfectly weighted pass from deep into the path of Kembo-Ekoko left the visitors’ defence flat-footed and the Congolese striker thumped the ball above Oumar Barry with a fine right foot finish.
Nilmar could have restored Al Rayyan’s lead just before the break when his effort went just wide, but
after the interval it was always Al Ain who looked the more likely to take the three points.
Brosque went close six minutes after the resumption with a glancing header and, two minutes later, the Australian international shot over the bar after receiving the ball from Abdulrahman.
Just before the hour mark Ismail Ahmed had a gilt-edged opportunity to score when Abdulrahman’s corner found him unmarked eight yards from goal but his header was acrobatically pushed to safety by Barry.
With 20 minutes to go, though, Al Ain finally found the winner as Abdulrahman and Brosque linked up once again, the youngster flicking
the ball over the Al Rayyan defence to allow Brosque to chest forward and then smash his shot successfully beyond Barry.