Gharafa, Foolad share spoils in opener

AFC JEDDAH IR Iran’s Foolad Khouzestan and Al Gharafa of Qatar settled for a 0-0 draw in Group C of the AFC Champions League™ 2022 on Thursday. Foolad domi...

AFCJEDDAHIR Iran’s Foolad Khouzestan and Al Gharafa of Qatar settled for a 0-0 draw in Group C of the AFC Champions League™ 2022 on Thursday.Foolad dominated possession for the most the match but a disciplined Al Gharafa backline held on as both teams shared the points. There were few chances early in the encounter as Foolad, despite controlling the match, struggled to craft any decent attempts with Al Gharafa defending in numbers. With Al Gharafa’s backline showing no signs of cracking, Mohammad Abshak tried his luck with a long-range effort that sailed over the bar. The Iranian side continued to press for an opening goal and Al Gharafa’s goalkeeper Yousef Hassan was called into action to deny Brazilian Luciano Mendes’ tame header from a delightful Vahid Heydarieh cross in the 28th minute. As half-time approached, Foolad maintained their fluid passing and Abshak had the next best chance only to pull his shot wide inside the penalty boxFoolad started the second 45 minutes in similar fashion but Al Gharafa slowly grew into the match with a rare attack, Homam Ahmed bursting from the wing but his effort was blocked by Shahab Gordan at the near post after the hour mark. Malian defender Moussa Coulibaly missed a glorious chance in front of goal in the 76th minute, hitting his shot over the bar as the clocked ticked.Foolad were again on the attack with five minutes left on the clock but Mendes failed to find the back of the net, rattling the bar with a powerful shot after timing his run perfectly inside the box as the teams settled for a draw.Elsewhere in Buraidah, Islamic Republic of Iran’s Sepahan FC came back from a 1-0 first half deficit to beat Uzbek Super League champions Pakhtakor FC 3-1 on Matchday One of Group D in the AFC Champions League™ 2022 on Thursday. Dragan Ceran gave Pakhtakor the lead in the 28th minute, only for Shahriyar Moghanlou to score back-to-back goals in the second half, coupled with Mohammad Reza Hosseini’s effort to secure an opening day win. The first 20 minutes saw both sides battle it out for control as they sought to find their feet, with the closest either of them coming to a sight of goal ending with the referee’s assistants flagging Khojimat Erkinov and Sajjad Shahbazadeh offside. Midway through the first half, Soroush Rafiei whipped in a corner straight at the head of Giorgi Gvelesiani, with the Georgian getting a point-blank header on goal that was somehow saved by Eldorbek Suyonov.The first goal of the AFC Champions League 2022 edition was scored 28 minutes into the game by the Tashkent-based side through club captain Ceran. The explosive Khojiakbar Alijonov took the ball upfield down the right, firing in a low cross towards the area that was intelligently flicked by Erkinov into Ceran’s path, the latter making no mistake from close range to make it 1-0.Minutes before the break, Suyonov pulled off an incredible save from Mohammed Reza Hosseini, who had a straight run at the keeper after being teed up by Shahriyar Moghanlou, but the former’s shot was straight at the Uzbek keeper.Just after the break, Moghanlou picked up where he left off in the AFC Champions League 2021 edition, when he elegantly tapped in the equaliser for the Isfahan-based side following a brilliantly placed cross from a corner by Farshad Ahmedzadeh, with Suyonov having next to nothing to do as the ball flew past him to restore parity at 1-1. With 55 minutes on the clock, Moghanlou took his team ahead from yet another set-piece situation that involved Ahmedzadeh, who looped the ball into the area for the marginally onside Mohammed Nejad Mehdi, who headed the ball down into Moghanlou’s path leaving him to tap-in past Suyonov to make the score 2-1. Hosseini wrapped up the win with Sepahan’s third goal with 70 minutes on the clock, but credit goes to Danial Esmaelifar who took on no less than three players en route to flicking the ball with just the right weight for Hosseini to fire past Suyonov.Ceran hit the bar in the closing stages, and talismanic winger Sardor Rashidov was brought on to steady the ship but the damage was already done as Sepahan picked up their first three points.On Sunday, Pakhtakor face group hosts Al Taawoun FC while Moharram Navidkia’s men face Qatar’s Al Duhail.