Iran’s Tractor Sazi thrashes Saudi Al-Hilal in AFC Champions League

Iranian professional soccer club Tractor Sazi Tabriz, also known as Tractor, has routed Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia at the group stage of the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.

Both clubs exhibited an anemic display for most part of the first half of the Group C fixture played at the multi-purpose Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium, also known as Qatar SC Stadium, in the Qatari capital city of Doha on Tuesday.

 Tractor Sazi footballers went close to scoring the opener midway through the period, when midfielder Soroush Rafiei shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Al-Hilal goalkeeper Khalid Sharahili collected the ball with a smart save, though, and eliminated the Iranians’ chance.

The rest of the first half was a particularly drab affair with both sides unable to find the net and score a goal. 

After the break, Tractor footballers played with more vigor and valor, and 32-year-old Cameroonian striker Aloys Bertrand Nong placed the ball at the back of the opponents’ net in the 66th minute to send the Tabriz-based outfit on its way to a fourth victory in five games.

Al-Hilal soccer players then sought to score the equalizer but did not manage to level the game amid their fans’ frustration.

Tractor’s second goal came nine minutes from time, when forward Farzad Hatami tacked the ball into the roof of the goal with a powerful right-foot strike.

Tractorsazi Tabriz booked its place in the knockout stage of the 2016 AFC Champions League with the 2-0 win over Al-Hilal.

“The win is very important for us because it will give us a big push in the competition. We had a balanced performance in the two halves, and we tried our best to avoid conceding any goals in the first half and we achieved it,” Tractor's coach Amir Ghalenoei said after the match.

He added, “In the second half, we changed our strategy and put some pressure on the attack before scoring the first goal at the right moment. After that, we relied on the quick counter attacks and we managed to secure the win with the second goal.”

“We were expecting a tough match due to the conditions that we had and the heavy schedule,” Al-Hilal coach Georgios Donis said.

“We wanted to get a win and we put in a good performance in the first half but our opponents were good in defense,” he added.

“We had to go forward in the second half but we conceded a goal which affected us. We pushed more in order to level the scores but we lost many scoring chances before we conceded the second goal,” Donis concluded.

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