Piroozi beat Al Ittihad 3-2 to end the Saudi Arabian team’s unbeaten record in the 2011 AFC Champions League and boost their own flagging hopes of place in the knockout stages.
Hamidreza Aliasgari stuck in the 14th minute before a second goal from Shpejtim Arifi two minutes later was cancelled out by Mohammed Al Rashed’s firm header in the first-half.
Aliasgari extended Piroozi’s lead in the 69th minute before the visitors pulled one back through a stoppage-time own goal from Sekou Berthe.
Piroozi came close to taking the lead after four minutes through …

Bunyodkor moved to within touching distance of the last 16 in the 2011 AFC Champions League as Milos Trifunovic’s double saw the Uzbeks edge out Al Wahda 3-2 in an entertaining clash at the JAR Stadium.
Ismaeil Matar had given the visitors a shock second-minute lead but Trifunovic levelled nine minutes later before giving Bunyodkor a half-time lead.
Hugo equalised from the spot early in the second-half for Al Wahda but Anvarjon Soliev’s header six minutes from time sealed the points for Mirjalal Kasimov’s side.
Both teams came into the game looking for …

Bunyodkor landed a decisive blow in the battle for Group C in the 2011 AFC Champions League after downing Piroozi 3-1 at the Azadi Stadium.

Anvar Rajabov put Bunyodkor in front with a thunderous finish on the hour mark before Hayrulla Karimov’s penalty nine minutes later, after substitute Alireza Mohamed had been sent off for hauling down Rajabov, doubled their advantage.

Al Ittihad became the first side to book their place in the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League as a goalless draw with Al Wahda at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium gave them the point they needed to ensure they can finish no lower than second in Group C.

The result means the Saudis retain top spot with ten points, five points ahead of closest challengers Bunyodkor following the Uzbeks’ shock 3-1 win over Piroozi in Tehran. Al Wahda move ahead of the Iranians in third on three points with two matches left to play.

Bunyodkor 0-0 Piroozi
Bunyodkor and Piroozi did nothing to help their 2011 AFC Champions League cause after the two teams played out a tepid goalless draw at JAR Stadium.
In a game devoid of any clear cut chances, the best fell to Kamoliddin Murzoev after just seven minutes but the forward was unable to capitalise.
Bunyodkor will in all likelihood feel the more aggrieved of the two sides having also had a goal disallowed in the second-half, while Piroozi will be relatively satisfied with a point although they will need to win the …

Al Ittihad won a hard fought victory to beat Bunyodkor 1 – 0 in their Group C clash of the AFC Champions League.

Al Wahda 1-1 Bunyodkor
Two late goals lit up the Group C match between UAE Pro League champions Al Wahda and Uzbekistan champions Bunyodkor as their AFC Champions League encounter ended in a 1-1 draw.
With the game seemingly heading to a goalless conclusion, Bunyodkor substitute Murzoev Kamoliddin – on the pitch for just two minutes – set up Azizbek Haydarov to give the visitors an 84th minute lead that looked to have snatched the points.
However Hugo (Hugo Henrique Assis do Nascimento), a 63rd minute substitute …

Currently sitting in 2nd position domestically (mid way through the 2010/11 season), Al Ittihad is having a strong season with 8 wins, no loses and 9 draws. In their 2010 AFC Champions League appearance, Al Ittihad had a mixed experience, winning 2 matches, drawing 2 and losing 2. They missed out on a round of 16 game and will be hoping to do better, although their Group C opponents are just as tough this year, so it will not be easy.

Al-Ain 2–0 Sepahan
Ghalenoei knew victory against Al-Ain at the Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium in UAE would guarantee a second round appearance. Unfortunately for the Yellows, a 2-0 loss left them crossing their fingers and watching events elsewhere – events that would ultimately go against them.
A brace from Argentinian international Jose Sand was enough to give all three points to the home side, who ended their campaign with a little pride, and condemned their opponents to early elimination. The former River man grabbed the first from the spot a couple of …

Group G
Gamba Osaka 2-1 Suwon Samsung Bluewings
A last minute strike by Takashi Usami, assured Gamba Osaka first place in Group G.
Gamba started the game in second position, 2 points behind Suwon, who had also yet to lose a game.
Suwon scored first in the 58th minute through Jose Mota, his fifth goal of the competition.
However, the Koreans were pegged back only three minutes later by Takahiro Futagawa.
Scores remained at 1-1 until injury time when the 17-year-old Usami netted the winner.
Gamba now lead the group with …

With all games in Match Day 4 of the AFC Champions League completed, two more teams have confirming their places in the Round of 16.

Seongnam Ilhwa made it four in a row in Group E to go through while Suwon Bluewings made sure of their advance in Group G.

Group A

Esteghlal, of Iran, drew 1-1 away to Qatar’s Al Gharafa and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli scored a 2-0 away win over Al Jazira.

Younis Mahmoud gave Gharafa a 1-0 lead before the interval but Mehdi Salehi equalised for the visitors on 58 minutes.

Group A
Esteghlal 3-0 Al Gharafa
Al Ahli 5-1 Al-Jazira
Al Gharafa couldn’t compete with Esteghlal today and went down 3-0 in the Azadi Stadium today. Esteghlal striker Farhad Majidi bagged himself two goals today. Majidi put the hosts ahead after a quarter of an hour before doubling their lead ten minutes after the break. Defender Pejman Montazeri then sealed the victory ten minutes from time.
In Group A’s other fixture, Al-Ahli, who so far have leaked five goals in their first two matches, turned things around against Al Jazira scoring 5 goals and …

Quick summary of the results from the remainder of the Matchday 1 games played overnight in Asia’s premier club competition – Asian Champions League.

Group C

Al-Ain 0–1 Pakhtakor Tashkent
Al Shabab 1-1 Sepahan

Group C is made up of the following ACL teams.
Al Ain (UAE) – Al Ain FC is by far the most successful club in the UAE and among the best in Asia. Appearances in previous championships have yielded the following results. 2002-03 – Champion, 2004 – Quarter-Finals, 2005 – Finalist, 2006 – Quarter-Finals, 2007 – Group Stage. Al Ain is another serious contender.
Sepahan (IRN) – They have the strongest squad among four Iranian teams, and they do have a big chance of qualifying to the knock-out stage along with possibly …

The Iranian champions came back from two goals down to return with a point and deny Al Jazira a first win in the tournament in the final Group C match that did not have any bearing on the result after Saudi champions Al Ittihad and Umm Salal of Qatar had already progressed into the last 16.
“We tried out our reserve players and they did a good job for us,” said Braga.
“I think the 2-2 draw was a fair result. Esteghlal had taller players and they used the long ball to …

Naif Hazazi netted a hat-trick as Al Ittihad secured top spot in Group C in emphatic style with a 7-0 demolition of Umm Salal at the Prince Abdullah Stadium.
The win ensured the Jeddah side of a home match in the last 16 against the runners-up of Group B while Umm Salal will visit the winners of Group A.
The hosts went ahead after nine minute when the Umm Salal defence failed to deal with Osama Al Harbi’s long throw-in, which was flicked into the heart of the box where Renato lashed …

Al Ittihad and Umm Salal have confirmed their spot in the last 16 of the Asian Champions League.
The 2004 and 2005 Asian Champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Esteghlal in Tehran but it was enough to progress.
Hicham Aboucherouane gave the Saudi Arabians what looked to be the winner ten minutes from time.
With just two minutes remaining, however, Ali Alizadeh equalised for the hosts to give them a draw and another point.
Umm Salal fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Al Jazira and seal their progression …

Source: www.the-afc.com
Umm Salal became the second Qatari side to deal a blow to Iranian hopes of ACL success when they held Esteghlal to a 1-1 draw but coach Gerard Gili admitted they were fortunate to come away unbeaten.
The draw at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, which comes a day after Al Gharafa thrashed Piroozi 5-1, all but extinguishes Esteghlal’s hopes of reaching the last 16 and means a similar result in either of Umm Salal’s final two matches will see them progress.
Arash Borhani, the leading scorer in the Iranian league, …

Source: www.the-afc.com
Al Ittihad coach Gabriel Calderon slammed his players on Wednesday after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Jazira of the UAE at Prince Abdullah Stadium saying that the result was barely deserved.
“My team’s performance was extremely bad and they did not deserve the draw. A fair result would have been a win for Al Jazira who played very well,” said the Argentine.
The two-time AFC Champions League winners took the lead five minutes before the break through Osama Al Harbi but Al Jazira took control after the …