Qatar's Al Sadd player Morteza Pouraliganji (right) heads the ball in front of Leandro Padovani of Iran's Esteghlal during their AFC Champions League play-off match at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, yesterday.
Qatar's Al Sadd went down fighting 4-3 to Esteghlal of Iran in an away match yesterday to book a place in the Group Stage of the AFC Champions League.
In Teharan at the Azadi Stadium, none of the teams could score in the 90 minute of regular play and in the 30 minutes of extra time, forcing a penalty shoot-out.
The victory means former semi-finalists Esteghlal returned to the AFC Champions League Group Stage following a three-year hiatus on Tuesday.
The two-time Asian Club Championship winners had the better of proceedings against 2011 AFC Champions League winners Al Sadd but neither side was able to break the deadlock in 120 minutes of action.
Omid Ebrahimi missed Esteghlal’s second penalty of the shootout but they flawlessly converted the remaining spot kicks while Ibrahim Majed and Mohamed Kasola failed to hit the target for Al Sadd, allowing substitute Khosro Heidari to slam home the winner and take the Iranians into Group A where they will meet Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates, Uzbek side Lokomotiv and Saudi Arabia’s Al Taawoun.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Al Fatah booked their place in AFC Champions League 2017 Group Stage yesterday when a solitary goal from Ukra earned Fethi Jebel’s side a 1-0 win over Nasaf from Uzbekistan.
The Portuguese striker scored in first half injury time with a perfectly struck free-kick from just outside the area to ensure Al Fatah advance to play in Group B, where they will face Iran’s Esteghlal Khuzestan, Al Jazira of the United Arab Emirates and Lekhwiya from Qatar. In Abu Dhabi, two goals in the opening 24 minutes helped earn Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates a place in the Group Stage as Javier Aguirre’s side handed Jordan’s Al Wehdat a 3-0 defeat yesterday.
