JEDDAH: Al-Ittihad emerged as the only Saudi team to win a match yesterday in the AFC Champions League, beating Esteghlal Tehran 2-1 on a late goal by Busharwan in injury time at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
Earlier, Al-Hilal and Saba Batry of Iran drew 1-1 at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh in a Group A match, while Al-Ittifaq went down in defeat against Kuruvchi Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan 2-1 in a Group D match in Uzbekistan. Ittifaq scored its only goal through striker Saleh Basheer in the 61st minute after being down 0-2 following markers by the enemy in the 28th and 50th minute. The first half ended 1-0 in favor of the Uzbeks.
Sepahan of Iran defeated Al-Shabab of UAE 2-0 in Iran in another Group D match. This took the Iranian team to the top of the group with three points, Kuruvchi Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan second with three points and Ittifaq and Shabab third and fourth in the standings.
Saba Batry was first to score in the 14th minute of the match through Yahya Ghoul. Defender Usama Hawsawi equalized for Hilal in the 33rd minute. Hilal’s performance was not convincing, probably the result of the absence of a coach. Pakhtakor Tashkent of Uzbekistan is on top of Group A with three points, Hilal and Saba Batry are second each with one point and Ahli of UAE is last with no point. Ittihad notched victory when Busharwan struck from long distance in the dying moments of the match, the rocket hit traveling to the left of the goalkeeper. The Iranian scored first in the 76th minute from a nice header by Arash Borhani. Ittihad equalized in the 86th minute with a nice shot by Emad Miteb from inside of the penalty box. The win gave Ittihad the top spot in Group C with three points. Umm Salal is second with three points from a win against Al-Jazira of UAE, while Esteghlal and Al-Jazira share the cellar with no point.
