ACL: Iran’s Esteghlal Books Place at Round of 16 (+Photos)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran’s Esteghlal booked its place in the 2018 AFC Champions League Knockout Stage with a 2-0 win over Qatar’s Al Rayyan at the Azadi Stadium on Matchday Five of Group D on Monday.
The host got off to a flying start and needed just four minutes to open the scoring as Server Djeparov converted a cross from Farshid Esmaeili past goalkeeper Oumar Barry, the-afc.com reported.
Al Rayyan captain Rodrigo Tabata attempted his luck from long distance, but his strike went wide in the 20th minute as the Qatari side intensified the pressure in an effort to find an equalizer.
Esteghlal doubled its lead 13 minutes after the restart as Vouria Ghafouri stepped up to drive home from the penalty spot to make it 2-0.
The result means Esteghlal is through to the Round of 16 while Al Rayyan will have to battle Al Ain for the second Group D ticket on Matchday Six in two weeks’ time.
