Edu Bedia celebrates after scoring FC Goa's first-ever ACL goal.
Photo Credits: AFC
PANAJI
FC Goa created another piece of history as captain Edu Bedia scored the club's first-ever goal in AFC Champions League but the Gaurs went down to the might of Iran’s Persepolis 1-2 in their Group E match at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on Tuesday.
The Iranians, the 2018 and 2020 finalists, made it three wins out of three in the group and are now clear favourites to progress as group winners as they opened up an impressive five-point lead at the top of the standings at the halfway stage. The Gaurs, meanwhile, fell to their first defeat in continental topflight after two creditable draws against Al Rayyan and Al Wahda. They are now third in the table with two points behind Al Wahda (4 pts), who beat Al Rayyan (1 pt) in the day’s other match.
Persepolis started the tie on the front foot and had their first look at goal after 10 minutes but Ahmad Noorollahi sent his free-kick straight into the arms of FC Goa custodian Dheeraj Singh. FC Goa gradually grew into the match and were rewarded in the 14th minute when Bedia rose high to nod home Brandon Fernandes’ free-kick to register a historic moment for the Indian club.
Persepolis, however, came back fighting and equalised when Mahdi Torabi sent Dheeraj Singh the wrong way from the spot in the 18th minute after Isa Alkasir had been brought down inside the box. Persepolis increased their intensity of play and captain Seyed Jalal Hosseini scored his second of the campaign when he angled his header into the back of the net following Torabi’s cross from the left flank.
Dheeraj Singh, FC Goa’s star in the 0-0 draw with Al Rayyan on Matchday Two, was at his best in the 42nd minute to deny Hossein Kanaani from the penalty spot following a foul on Ehsan Pahlavan. The FC Goa goalkeeper was kept busy after the restart, foiling Torabi just a minute in and then saving Hosseini’s header from inside the area moments later.
In an effort to boost their attacking threat, FC Goa sent Princeton Rebello and Ishan Pandita in place of Glan Martins and Brandon Fernandes respectively but Persepolis continued to pull the strings to see out the match for another three points. The two sides will meet again on Friday with Yahya Golmohammadi's team aiming to take a step closer to the Round of 16 while FC Goa will surely relish another go at Persepolis.
Al Wahda win classic
In the day's earlier game, Al Wahda’s Fares Juma headed in with the final touch of the game to secure a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind win for Henk ten Cate’s side over Qatar’s Al Rayyan on Tuesday.
The experienced central defender rose to meet Abdulla Al Karbi’s cross from the right for the club from the United Arab Emirates, who scored three times in the final 24 minutes to overturn a two-goal deficit and pick up their first win of the campaign.
The game had looked destined to end in a draw after Khalil Ibrahim latched on to Tim Matavz’s through ball to score after Maayed Al Ruwais had earlier halved the deficit for Al Wahda with Shoja Khalilzadeh and Abdelaziz Hatem having given Al Rayyan a two-goal cushion. But the win means Al Wahda move onto four points from their first three games while Al Rayyan remain on one point, with the two teams due to meet again on Friday.
Al Rayyan had looked set to take their first win of the campaign after opening up a two-goal lead with a dominant display throughout the opening 60 minutes. Al Wahda goalkeeper Mohamed Al Shamsi had to be alert to push Hatem’s fifth-minute shot to safety after the midfielder’s effort looked destined for the top corner while at the other end Omar Khrbin twice had sight of goal, only to miss the target.
Yohan Boli almost capped an eventful opening to the game when he sent a looping effort over the bar before the Qatari side took the lead in the 13th minute. Hatem’s free-kick from the left drifted into the penalty area and, after the Al Wahda defence failed to clear, Khalilzadeh struck low and on the turn to give Al Rayyan the lead. Nine minutes before the interval, Al Rayyan went close to doubling their advantage but Al Shamsi was again just about equal to the task as he pushed the ball away from goal.
There was little the Al Wahda goalkeeper could do, however, in the 54th minute when Hatem extended his side’s lead. Boli collected a long ball into the penalty area before pulling back to Hatem and he made no mistake with his low strike. That goal finally roused Al Wahda, with substitute Tim Matavz hitting the post three minutes later while, in the 66th minute, ten Cate’s side halved the deficit. Ibrahim burst down the right before firing in a low centre the Al Rayyan defence struggled to clear before Al Ruwais slotted in.
Five minutes from time Ibrahim went from provider to scorer when he raced on to Matavz’s through ball to slide his shot beyond Younis and, with four minutes into injury time, Jumaa nodded in the winner to cap a remarkable comeback.
