Persepolis FC survived some anxious moments in the dying minutes of the AFC Champions League Group D match against Qatar’s Al Rayyan to pick up a point in a goalless draw at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran yesterday.
The result means Al Rayyan slip to the second spot in Group D with seven points from two wins and one draw.
Saudi Arabian side Hilal leads the group with eight points.
Persepolis were left to rue the first half penalty miss when striker Mehdi Taremi squandered the game’s best opportunity sending his spot kick over the cross bar.
The Iranian club now have five points after four matches, with two rounds of fixtures remaining.
In the ill-tempered match the referee reached out to his pocket to flash the yellow cards to five players.
Soroush Rafiei, Seyed Jalal Hosseini and Soroush Rafael of Persepolis FC were penalized by the referee while Sebastián Soria and Oumar Barry were showed the yellow card.
Both the teams had their chances in the match, with the home enjoying territorial superiority with 63 percent possession and forcing 14 flag kicks to Al Rayyan’s three.
The visitors, knowing that a win further cement their standing at the top went all out to secure the match winner during the fag end of the match and almost succeeded.
Michael Laudrup side launched a barrage of attacks in the injury time and came close to scoring a couple of times, but luck ran out for the visitors as two efforts from Soria failed to find the target.
The first attempt from Soria hit the left post after he got hold off a defense splitting pass from Sergio García in the fourth minute of injury time.
Two minutes earlier, Soira’s angular drive from a difficult angle went close to the rival goal.
Midaway into the second half, Abdulrahman Al Harazi left footed shot from the centre of the box was blocked at the rival goal. At the other end, Taremi header went wide of a cross from Mohsen Mosalman.
The hosts continued in the attacking vein and a headed attempt by Hossein Mahini missed the goal.
Earlier in the first half, Persepolis FC lost on a golden opportunity to take the lead.
In the 43rd minute, the Iranian club failed to convert a spot kick awarded to them when Taremi was deemed to have been unfairly challenged by Mosaab Kheder.
In the resultant penalty, Taremi made a mess of it by sending his right footed chip a few inches over the crossbar, much to the relief of the visitors.
Both the teams had their share of chances in the first half, the hosts had a close look at the rival goal in the 33rd minute.
Taremi, who worked tirelessly for Persepolis, saw his header from the centre of the box going high of a cross from Mohsen Mosalman following a corner.
Persepolis had lost to Al Rayyan in the away match 3-1.
Taremi opened the scoring for the Iranian club but a Rodrigo Tabata brace and Sergio Garcia’s late strike saw Al Rayyan claim all three points in Doha.
Meanwhile, Nam Tae-hee scored one and made another as Lekhwiya came from behind to claim a 2-1 victory over Esteghlal Khuzestan and leapfrog their opponents into top spot in Group B of the AFC Champions League yesterday.
Aloys Nong put Esteghlal Khouzestan in front after just nine minutes at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, collecting Hassan Beyt Saeed’s cross before firing low into the net.
The visitors’ advantage did not last long, though, as influential South Korean playmaker Nam produced a stunning 20-yard strike after 35 minutes to level the scores.
By the stroke of half-time, the comeback was complete as Almoez Ali took advantage to bundle home a cross after more fine work by Nam on the left flank.
With 20 minutes remaining, Nam forced Vahid Sheikhveisi into a fine save to keep the deficit to just one goal, while Ali was also denied a second from a spectacular late effort as Lekhwiya inflicted a first defeat for Esteghlal Khouzestan on the continent to move to the top of the standings.
