Shabab Al Ahli edge Tractor at 2026/27 ACL Elite [VIDEO]

AFC – DUBAI, Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE defeated Iran’s Tractor football team 1-0 in the 2026/27 ACL Elite opener Monday night.

Yuri Cesar’s opportunistic 22nd-minute strike at the Rashid Stadium capped a well-rounded display by the United Arab Emirates side in their competition opener as they look to lift their first continental trophy.

Semi-finalists in the last edition, Shabab Al Ahli immediately edged possession and their pressing seemed to have paid off in the seventh minute when Sardar Azmoun nodded home, only for his effort to be ruled offside.

Azmoun tried again in the 19th minute, charging down the right but finding no takers for his diagonal pass before Rikelme rattled the bar a minute later from some 35 yards as Shabab Al Ahli intensified their attacks.

They finally made the breakthrough in the 22nd minute when Yuri Cesar, capitalising on a fumble by Tractor captain Shojae Khalilsadeh, pounced on the loose ball on the left and steered his shot from just outside the six-yard box past keeper Parsa Jafari and into the bottom right.

Tractor struggled to find their way into the opposing box, with Tomislav Strkalj finally doing so in the 40th minute after connecting to Mohammad Naderi’s pass but the striker’s hesitant effort was easily collected by keeper Matheus Donelli.

Jafari made his first save three minutes after the break when he pushed away Yuri Cesar’s stinging attempt from outside the area before the United Arab Emirates winger set up Saeid Ezatolahi in the 58th minute, who skewed his shot wide of the right post.

Tractor’s Mohammad Daneshgar came close to an equaliser in the 79th minute when he came from behind the defence only to skim his header against the bar, with Mehdi Shiri seeing his fiercely-struck 25-yard shot two minutes later tipped over by Donelli.