Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira slammed Persepolis for playing “wrestling... not football” during the first leg of their AFC Champions League semi-final at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
Despite dominating the proceedings for much part of the game, it all came down to a Ali Alipour penalty to break the deadlock in the 86th minute, as Persepolis won 1-0.
In the end, Sadd were punished for their lack of penetration in front of the goal as Persepolis’ narrow win put them in the driver’s seat ahead of the return leg at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on October 23.
Alipour won a penalty after being fouled by Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb, who had replaced injured Mishal Barshm, just inside the box. The home players protested the referee’s decision but it was a right call as the foul occurred just inside the box.
After a prolonged delay, Alipour picked himself up and made no mistake in finding the bottom corner from the spot to signal celebratory scenes from their small pocket of away fans.
There was late drama to the heated contest as well after an Al Sadd goal in the injury time was ruled out. In what seemed like a contentious call from the Sri Lankan referee Dilan Perera, Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand threw the ball in front of him to kick it down the field but Sadd forward Akram Afif intercepted the ball mid-air which resulted in the ball bouncing into the post. Even as Afif started his celebratory lap, the referee ruled the effort as a foul.
Despite that misfortune, Sadd and Ferreira will look back at the match as a missed opportunity and have a huge task in front of them in Tehran in three weeks’ time.
For Sadd, who are chasing their third Asian title and first since 2011, they would need a repeat of their quarter-final win against Esteghlal in Tehran last month, where they stunned the massive, raucous crowd with a 3-1 scoreline.
Ferreira said Sadd must believe they can still turn it around in the second leg. “The team must believe in its potential. There will be an opportunity to score in Tehran and now we are thinking of only one outcome: that is to win the return leg,” he said.
The Portuguese manager was also critical of the physical game employed by Persepolis. “The Iranian team is a very difficult team. They were playing wrestling and this is not football. We fought a lot over the course of the match. Now we have no choice but to win the return leg, so that we can maintain our chance to compete for the title. We realise how difficult it is to achieve this goal but are determined to achieve it,” Ferreira added.
There was no doubt that Sadd were the quality side at least on the paper. They had won 10 of their last 14 home games, scoring over 2.5 goals per game and failing to score just twice. But last night it was a different story as they failed to capitalise on a dominating start.
Sadd enjoyed much of the possession with captain and midfield maestro Xavi playing in a free role, while Jung Woo Young and Gabi were employed as wide midfielders. But the mobility failed to translate into penetration as Sadd’s prolific striker and tournament top-scorer Baghdad Bounedjah was kept silent by a resolute backline marshalled by captain Jalal Hosseini.
Persepolis were tough nut to crack despite missing three key players — Kamal Kamyabinia and Mohamed Ansari to suspension, and defender Hossein Mahini out of the season with knee injury. In fact, the away team looked dangerous with Ali Mosleh, Omid Alishah and Bashar Resan linking up down the left.
The first real chance of the match for Sadd came in the 16th minute. Afif got into the box and had a go at the goal but Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was on hand to safely gather the ball.
Two minutes later, Persepolis wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead.
After Resan crossed the ball in from the left, all Godwin Mensha could do was head the ball over the crossbar. Afif remained a lively threat for the home team on the left and in the 43rd minute, his low drive at goal was kept out by a fingertip save from the diving Beiranvand.
Hassan al-Haydos replaced Woo-young after half-time to inject space into Sadd attack but the Persepolis were determined not to make it easier for them. Bounedjah cut a frustrated figure throughout the match as he failed to find the opportunities and was also involved in few skirmishes with Persepolis defenders, which attracted attention from the referee.
Having been eliminated at the same stage of the tournament last year, Persepolis now potentially are just 90 minutes away from contesting their first-ever Champions League final, where they will be looking to become only the third Iranian side to be crowned Asian champions after Esteghlal and PAS Tehran.
Al Sadd captain Xavi (right) vies for the ball with Persepolis’ Ahmad Nourollahi during the first leg of the AFC Champions League semi-final at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium yesterday. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil
