Naft goalkeeper stood in our way, says Zlatko Dalic

Abu Dhabi: Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic said that Naft Tehran goalkeeper Ali Reza Beiranvand stood in the way of a victory in their AFC Champions League fixture.

Heavyweights Al Ain were held to a 1-1 draw by the debutants in their second Group B fixture at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday night. Al Ain had plenty of chances in the first half but were kept at bay by an impressive Ali Reza.

Then, early in the second half, Naft Tehran upped their game and took the lead through substitute Siamak Kooroshi before Al Ain levelled it from an Asamoah Gyan penalty. It meant Al Ain are yet to win a game in two matches and it also left them winless in seven trips to Iran.

Dalic though said that a point was better than nothing. “I’m satisfied with the result. However, this match had two different periods. In the first half, we played well but the Naft keeper was a hero. We could have scored four or five goals and they were lucky. In the second half we could also have scored but we wasted our chances and we lost our focus and Naft scored from a set piece,” said Dalic.

“Fortunately, we levelled the score a few minutes later although they did have some opportunities in the second half,” he added.

Al Ain are third behind Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor and Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab after their game finished in a stalemate.

Meanwhile, Naft Tehran coach Alireza Mansourian was pleased with the top quality football that the sides dished out.

“This was top quality football with a lot of chances on both ends. Al Ain had more chances in the first half but in the second they played more defensively. They were lucky not to concede more goals,” said Mansourian.

“We played very well in the second half and my players did exactly what I told them. We don’t have goal scoring problems as you saw we made a lot of chances,” he added.

“There is a huge difference between Iran League matches and AFC Champions League matches. In Iran League from every seven chances maybe one will convert to goal but in Asia it is completely different, for example we gave Pakhtakor three chances and they scored twice. When the best teams of every country participate in the AFC Champions League it is normal that you see a high quality tournament,” he said.

james@khaleejtimes.com