Tractor Sazi defeats Al Jazira again in AFC Champions League

Iranian professional soccer club Tractor Sazi Tabriz has achieved back-to-back wins over Emirati Al Jazira in the group stage of the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.

On Wednesday evening, Al Jazira was defeated 1-0 at the hands of Tractor, and the Iranian team took all the three points of the Group C match staged at the multi-purpose Al Jazira Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi back to Tabriz.

Al Jazira striker Ali Mabkhout pinned his hopes on Tractor’s hesitance in defense as early as five minutes into the game, and fired off a low shot with his right foot on the edge of the penalty area, which missed the target on Mohammad Reza Akhbari’s right hand post and went outside.

The Iranians succeeded in asserting their dominance as the game progressed, and midfielder Bakhtiar Rahmani controlled his teammate Soroush Rafiei’s lofted ball into the area on his chest, and scored in the 31st minute with a well-struck right foot effort.

Al Jazira coach Henk Ten Cate then introduced Trinidadian soccer player Kenwyne Joel Jones in an attempt to give his side the boost required to even the score, but the 31-year-old did not manage to accomplish the task.

Rafiei had a marvelous opportunity in the 36th minute to put Tractor 2-0 ahead, but Al Jazeera goalkeeper Khalid al-Senani made a fine save and stripped the Iranian midfielder of the scoring chance.

After the breather, Al Jazira soccer players heaped pressure on the visitors’ goalpost, and went close to netting the equalizer but were unsuccessful.

The hosts ultimately found themselves with no choice but to admit the defeat despite significant possession throughout the game.

Tractor’s coach Amir Ghalenoei said after the match, “It is a great thing to achieve our second consecutive win in the competition against a strong team like Al Jazira.”

He added, “We had an excellent performance and we dominated the proceedings, especially in the first half.”

“Our defenders had a good game and they stopped the Al Jazira players from scoring but we were lucky not to concede any goals in the second half. This win will definitely give us a great push in the remaining four matches in the group,” Ghalenoei said.

Ten Cate, the Al Jazira coach, said, “I’m really sad with the defeat, especially because it was at home and in front of our fans.”

“We made several changes to the team because we have to do a rotation in the squad due to the heavy schedule that we have,” he added.

“We performed well, especially in the second half, and I personally believe that we should have got a draw from the match because we had several scoring chances. But we failed to score, and in the first half, Tractor Sazi were the better side,” the Dutchman pointed out.

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