Al Wasl opened their AFC Champions League campaign with a stunning away win over Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor 1-0, scored by Sofiane Bouftini, in the first round of the West Asia Zone Group matches today, at Pakhtakor Central Stadium in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.
The “Emperor” played a great match as they returned to the continental championship after a 5-year absence. Despite Pakhtakor’s possession of the ball at 64% compared to Al Wasl’s 36% in the first half, the “Emperor” was the better team in all aspects as the team wasted at least five clear chances.
Adama Diallo’s moves contributed to threatening the Cotton Farmers’ goal twice in the first five minutes of the match, as he received a beautiful back-heel pass from Seung-Hong, and the Ivorian striker hit the ball hard, but it bounced off the post (2). As for the second chance, Siaka Sidibe played a cross and Diallo met it with his head, but it went wide of the post (5).
For its part, Pakhtakor team shot only one ball through player Mammadov, which did not pose a threat to goalkeeper Khaled Al-Senani’s goal (7).
The most prominent opportunity for Al-Salawi was a shot by Ali Saleh from inside the penalty area, which was blocked by goalkeeper Nazarov and cleared by the Uzbek defense (17), while Caio Canedo led a counterattack and played the ball to Siaka, who shot a powerful ball that was blocked by the Pakhtakor defender (28). Sofiane Bouftini almost scored the first goal from a cross played by Nicolas Jimenez, which the Moroccan defender met with a shot that passed in front of the goal (41).
The “Emperor” maintained its superiority in the second half despite Pakhtakor’s improved performance, but goalkeeper Nazarov excelled in stopping a dangerous ball from Ali Saleh (64), before Nicolas Jimenez played a perfect corner kick that Sofiane Bouftini met with a header into the goal, scoring Al Wasl’s first goal (65), while the “Yellow” defense excelled in stopping Pakhtakor’s attacks, so Al Wasl achieved its first victory in the tournament.
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