We wanted more goals, says Duhail’s match-winner Ali

Almoez Ali got the only goal of the game in Al Duhail’s 1-0 win over Persepolis in the first leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday, but the youngster has expressed his team’s regret at not being able to score more. In a cagey encounter between the Qatari and Iranian champions at Khalifa International Stadium, chances were at a premium all evening. Al Duhail had to eventually settle for the slender advantage provided by Ali’s 15th-minute goal, which saw him head in at the back post following Edmilson’s cross from the left.“We managed to get a goal in the first half. We wanted two or three goals but fate wasn’t in our favour,” remarked Ali. “The next step for us now is to focus on our next game in the league, go to the national team camp and then return to play Persepolis again in the second leg.”The three-week gap before the second leg could provide ample time for Nabil Maaloul’s men to improve and put up a better showing in Tehran. “There are games coming up in which we can improve,” Ali said. “Hopefully, we can prepare ourselves well for the second leg and turn out better than we did today.” Al Duhail took to the field for the first leg without three of their first-team regulars and Ali felt that his team needed more work to adjust to the changes. “Of course, we missed Youssef (Msakni), Ismail (Mohammad) and Karim Boudiaf. What we have to do now is to work harder, try to get in sync with each other and give all we have for the team. We need to make use of the chances we get; you saw today we had chances come our way but we failed to use them because of simple errors at the end of the moves,” he said.Al Duhail won all six of their group games earlier this year before notching up back-to-back wins over Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the Round of 16 and will now be confident of advancing to the last four, where they will meet either fellow Qatari side Al Sadd or Esteghlal from Iran.Al Sadd won the first leg 3-1 in Tehran on Monday. In the other quarter-final, Kashima Antlers will take a 2-0 lead over Tianjin Quanjian into their second leg.Suwon down Jeonbuk thanks to Damjanovic’s doubleDejan Damjanovic’s double strike moved Suwon Bluewings to the verge of the Asian Champions League semi-finals yesterday as they handed twice champions Jeonbuk Motors a 3-0 defeat in the all-South Korean clash in the first leg of the quarter-finals.Damjanovic, who joined Suwon at the start of the year from bitter rivals FC Seoul, was instrumental in securing a surprise win for his side a day after coach Seo Jung-won announced he would be standing down from his role.Despite the turmoil behind the scenes, Suwon put on one of their best performances of the year to take a three-goal advantage into the second leg on Sept. 19. The 37-year-old Damjanovic put Suwon in front when he applied the finishing touch to a break out of defence 15 minutes from time when Elvis Saric played the ball into his path and Damjanovic slid his effort home.Seven minutes later he doubled his side’s lead when he was left unmarked on the edge of the area, with the Jeonbuk defence allowing him to turn and shoot into the bottom corner. With five minutes remaining Han Eui-gwon took Suwon a step closer to the next round when he steered his header into the top corner following Saric’s cross from the right.