ACL MD1 - Group D: Al Ahli 2-1 Nasaf

The lofty Syrian nodded home two minutes into the second half to secure all three points for Christian Gross’ team after Mohammed Al Fatil had put Al Ahli in front after just two minutes and Bobir Abdixolikov levelled just before the half-hour mark.

“It’s never easy after losing a final to come back and win again, but we showed character,” said Gross, whose side lost to Al Hilal in the final of the Crown Prince Cup on Friday.  

“We twice had a good start, both in the first half and the second half, and we more or less controlled the game against a good opponent.

“We’re happy that we won because at the start it’s never easy to play the first game at home in the group stage because you are watching the other results in the group.

“But I’m very satisfied with the performance of all the players tonight and I hope they will continue to put on such good performances in the future.”

Al Ahli made a lightning start to the game, with Al Soma seeing his effort saved in the first minute by Nasaf keeper Eldorbek Suyunov who pushed his shot away for the corner from which the Saudi side would open the scoring.

Giannis Fetfatzidis sent in his corner from the Al Ahli left and Mohammed Al Fatil headed home after moving unmarked to meet the ball and glance his goalward header beyond the diving Suyunov.

Steadily Nasaf pulled themselves back into the game. Abdixolikov should have done better in the 12th minute when he found himself behind the Al Ahli defence, only for Abdullah Al Maiouf to come out quickly to deny him.

Just before the half hour mark, however, the Uzbek side were level, with Abdixolikov’s previous effort proving a precursor of what was to come when the striker was put in on goal thanks to a perfectly weighted pass from Dilshod Rakhmatullaev, and this time he made no mistake, shooting into the far corner.

After making a rapid start to the first half, Al Ahli served up a repeat performance at the beginning of the second period as Al Soma put the Saudi side back in front with a perfectly placed header.

The Syrian, who was the club’s top scorer in the 2015 AFC Champions League, rose highest to meet Hussain Al Moqhawi’s cross from the right before steering the ball beyond goalkeeper Suyunov’s outstretched right hand.

Nasaf continued to harbour hope of finding a way back into the game, with Ilkom Shomurodov squandering his chance in the 57th minute after a mistake by the Al Ahli defence gifted possession to Abdixolikov. Al Maiouf saved on this occasion, while from the resulting corner Maksud Karimov headed meekly wide.

The Uzbek side’s chances of finding a way to level the scores again took a severe blow when, 15 minutes from time, Erkin Baydullaev was sent off for a second bookable offence after tangling with Mohammad Aman on the touchline and Al Ahli maintained control to take all three points.

“I would like to congratulate Al Ahli on the victory,” said Nasaf coach Ruzikul Berdiev. “We know that Al Ahli are a good team, a strong team, and in today’s game both teams played well.

“We knew Al Ahli would be a strong at set pieces and that’s how they scored both of their goals. We had the chance to draw but we couldn’t score another goal.”