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Saudi team Al Ahli beat Al Nasr to top AFC Group “C”

 

The Saudi Arabia football team Al Ahli came from behind when they were one goal down in the first session to beat their UAE counterparts Al Nasr 3-1 in the 2012 AFC Champions League 4th round match held this evening at prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium in Jeddah.

The winners jumped to the top of the standings with 7 points on goal difference to second-placed Sepahan of Iran who lost today to Lekhwiya of Qatar with a lone goal. Al Nasr went one step down to stay at the bottom of the table, three points behind third-placed Lekhwiya who raised their tally to 6 points.

Al Nasr missed in today's encounter the efforts of their Italian International star Luca Toni and goalkeeper Ahmed Shambeya due to injury along with Talal Ahmed for suspension by the National Committee for Anti - Doping.

The two teams, Al Ahli and Al Nasr, tried their best to score an early goal and the hosts came close to take the lead in many occasions but Al Nasr defenders stood solid on their way. Al Ahli played an attacking football dominating the major parts of the first session while the UAE side relied heavily on defensive tactics.

But against the run of play, Al Nasr were the first to find the target in the 33rd minute with Amara Diane's perfect header off a dead ball switched by Mohammed Ali. Al Ahli came twice to level the score but their rivals' defenders deprived them after clearing the ball away on the spot to end the first half with a lone-goal lead for Al Nasr.

The Saudi side missed two successive sitters five minutes after the breather and they came afterwards to put more pressure on the visiting team's defense. So it took them only ten minutes into the second half before they leveled the score via Abdul Rahim Gezawi who launched a strong left footer from outside the box that beat the goalkeeper Abdullah Mousa and went straight into the net.

Jamal Ibrahim came close to make it 2-1 when he received the ball into the penalty area but the hosts' defender Kamil Al Mouse blocked his shot to deflect it to a corner in the 64th minute. But the Brazilian striker Victor of Al Ahli headed home the second goal off the ball crossed by his countryman Camacho one minute later. Breciano squandered a nice chance for Al Nasr from a close range in the 71st minute when a defender cleared the ball away for a corner. Kamal Al Mousa made things difficult for the visitors when he netted his team's third goal with a header in the 73rd minute.

Al Nasr tried to reduce the deficit and come back to the match in the last minutes but all their attempts did not help them to add more goals for Al Ahli to end the game with a 3-1 win.