Iran's Tractor Sazi player Soroush Rafiei Al Gari vies for the ball with UAE's Al Jazira club player Thiago Neves during their AFC Champions League match.
Dubai - Al Ain, Jazira and Nasr lose opening encounters in AFC Champions League
Published: Thu 25 Feb 2016, 11:33 PM
UAE clubs had the worst possible start to their AFC Champions League campaigns, with all the three - Al Nasr, Al Jazira and Al Ain losing their opening fixtures.
After Dubai-based Al Nasr were blanked by Iranian club Sepahan in a Group A game at the Foolad Shahr Stadium in Iran on Tuesday night, Al Jazira were handed a 4-0 defeat by another Iranian club Tractor Sazi Tabriz in a Group C fixture at the Yadegar Emam Stadium on Wednesday night.
And the night ended with inaugural champions going down fighting to Qatar's El Jaish in their Group D opener at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.
Abderazak Hamdallah had given El Jaish the lead on nine minutes after which Romario Ricardo da Silva doubled the lead, just a minute before the break.
Al Ain reduced the margin through Dyanfres Douglas, who scored from a penalty on 66 minutes. But they couldn't find the equaliser.
Meanwhile, Bakhtiar Rahmani fired a brace in Tractor Sazi Tabriz's easy victory. Rahmani broke the deadlock as early as the fifth minute before Shojae Khalilzadeh headed home the second on nine minutes. Substitute Mehdi Sharifi adding the third on 54 minutes after which Rahmani completed his double on 59 minutes.
Al Jazira coach Henk ten Cate said that the two early goals made it difficult for his side.
"We conceded two goals in 10 minutes which made it hard for us to get back into the game," said Henk ten Cate. "We knew that after the third goal, our defeat was certain. I am definitely not satisfied with the performance," he added.
james@khaleejtimes.com
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