Asian Champions League (ACL) match 5 had mixed fortunes for Iranian teams with Saipa qualifying to the quarter finals with one game in hand but Sepahan eliminated courtesy of mistakes made by assistant referee that disallowed two legitimate Sepahan goals for incorrect off-side calls!
The day started in Group A with Kuruvchi of Uzbekistan beating Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia 2-0 and effectively qualify for the knock-out stage with one game in hand on 12 points, the Iranian Hazfi Cup winners on 6 points had a mathematical chance of winning the group by beating Al Ittihad of Syria followed by a 3-0 win over group leaders Kuruvchi in two weeks time to tie with the Uzbeks on points but win the group based on head-to-head results.
Sepahan got off to a good start against the Syrians playing away at Ittihad’s 75,000 capacity Aleppo International Stadium. The Iranian side were the better side in the first half but failed to capitalise on their superior play with Emad Reza failing to convert a clear cut chance in a one-to-one situation with Ittihad keeper, the first half ended 0-0. Sepahan playing with two strikers and defending from midfield left no doubt on anyone’s mind that they had gone to Syria to win.
The second half proved to be even more exciting than the first with Sepahan taking the initiative and going on the attack, they were rewarded with an opener minutes into second half when Aghili’s header beat the keeper to give Sepahan a deserved lead. This was followed by a long range effort from Abolhail hitting Ittihad’s cross-bar, striker Seyed Salehi converted the rebound to put Sepahan 2-0 up but the Jordanian assistant referee flagged for off-side and the goal was ruled out. Slow motion pictures proved Salehi was not off-side in the instant when Abolhail fired his shot, the fact that Salehi moved ahead of Syrian defenders after the shot was taken does not make him off-side, this was simply good positioning by the Sepahan striker and an elementary mistake by the assistant referee who should read about FIFA off-side rules.
Sadly Sepahan players lost their concentration after this incident and were caught off-guard in the back moments later and conceded an equaliser in 61st minute, this was followed by a second for Ittihad 3 minutes later. Sepahan scored for the third time but once again a legitimate goal was over-ruled by the same Jordanian assistant referee for off-side, this time Emad Reza scored from score range, video evidence proved the goal was not off-side, an injured Syrian player lying in the penalty area had indeed played Emad Reza on inline with FIFA off-side rules. It was hard to believe that the superior Sepahan had lost the match 2-1! Had Sepahan’s second goal not been ruled out the Iranian side would have killed the match off with their 2 goal lead, however a series of bad mistakes by referee assistant changed the outcome in favour of the home side. Last season’s ACL finalists Sepahan find themselves out of the tournament at group stage, this was a sad day for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) with such amateurish arbitration in an ACL match!
In Group B the day belonged to the Persian side Saipa. Having started the day with a 3 point lead Saipa took on Al Kuwait SC on home soil looking for a decisive result. A solid Saipa performance pinned the Kuwaiti side back, pressure finally paid off in 24th minute when Kianoush Rahmati fired an unstoppable shot from outside of Al Kuwait penalty area into the back of Al Fadhli’s goal to give Saipa a deserved 1-0 lead. Saipa came close to adding a second in the match but Mohammad Javad Araghi’s effort hit the woodwork, the match ended 1-0 to Saia and put Saipa on 11 points. Else where in Group B Al Wasl of UAE defeated Iraq’s Al Quwa 2-1 to move to second place on 6 points but 5 points behind Saipa which puts Daei’s side into the quarter finals with one game in hand. With Sepahan eliminated and Saipa already qualified to the quarter finals the final group stage match are just a formality for the two Iranian sides.
Forthcoming ACL matches (home teams first):
May 21st 2008:Sepahan (Iran) vs. Kuruvchi (Uzbekistan)
Al Wasl (UAE) vs. Saipa (Iran)
Afshin Dastafshan
adastafshan@persianmirror.com
