FOOTBALL – Esteghlal FC made their way into the round of 16 with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Muharraq in their final AFC Champions League Two 2025-26 Group A tie at the Shaikh Ali Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium yesterday.
Goals from Esmaeil Gholizadeh, Duckens Nazon and Jasir Asani gave the Iran side eight points, six behind group winners Al Wasl of the UAE. Muharraq, who were also in the running coming into the match, finished a point adrift.
Esteghlal keeper Antonio Adan almost gifted Muharraq in the sixth minute when he fumbled a shot from Abdulkareem Diara but recovered in time to push the ball out for a corner.
He did better moments later, however, tipping over Soufiane Mahrouq’s blistering shot from the left.
Esteghlal, however, scored against the run of play in the 15th minute when Gholizadeh outpaced the defence and slid the ball home from close range after connecting to a Saleh Hardani cross from the right.
The match turned scrappy after the initial excitement, with Esteghlal’s Saeid Saharkhizan the only one to take a turn at goal when his diving header from the centre of the area in the 42nd minute was easily saved by Muharraq custodian Sayed Jaafar.
Attempts by Muharraq to get back into the game in the second half were cut short when defender Waleed Alhayam was sent off in the 60th minute after picking up a second yellow card for a foul on Saeid Saharkhizan.
The visitors failed to make use of their numerical advantage until the 82nd minute, when Duckens Nazon came down the left and stroked the ball past Jaafar from a tight angle before Asani curled home into the bottom left corner five minutes later to propel his side into the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan’s FK Arkadag worked hard to secure a 1-0 win against Bahrain’s Al Khaldiya to progress to the round of 16 yesterday.
Arkadag overtook Al Khalidya with the win to finish on seven points, one better than their opponents. Qatar’s Al Ahli SC topped Group B with 10 points.
Foggy conditions at Arkadag Stadium made it a challenging game for the teams but there were still early chances at both ends of the pitch.
Dominique Mendy’s clearance prevented Arkadag captain Mekan Saparov from turning in Didar Durdiyev’s knockdown while Al Khaldiya spurned a chance of their own when Joel Beya scuffed his attempt wide from just inside the box.
Arkadag, however, found the breakthrough in the 45th minute when Shamammet Hydyrow’s long range strike hit Ricardo Manuel in the chest, with the Al Khaldiya keeper recovering to stop Yazgylych Gurbanov’s first attempt but not his follow-up.
The game remained an open contest after the interval, Al Khaldiya going close to an equaliser four minutes in but Ayoub Elamloud sent his header from close range wide while Velmyrate Ballakov smashed an effort off target after managing to create space for himself on the edge of the box.
Despite Al Khaldiya’s sustained pressure for the remainder of the match, Arkadag custodian Rasul Charryyev was rarely called into action with the home side able to comfortably see out the win.
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