Sepahan supremo ‘satisfied’ but wanted win

AFC – ESFAHAN, Coach Amir Ghalenoei declared himself satisfied with Sepahan’s performance in the 1-1 draw with Al Hilal as the Iranians booked their place in the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League.

Abdullah Al Dossary had given Al Hilal the lead just a minute into the second-half but Moharram Navidkia equalised eight minutes later.

Both sides now have 10 points with Al Gharafa in third on seven following their comprehensive victory over Al Jazira in Doha. Sepahan, though, have a superior head-to-head record over both Al Hilal and the Qataris.

“It was a good game and I’m happy that my team were dominant over their rivals throughout the whole game”, said Ghalenoei.

“We conceded shortly after the resumption of the game and that made us lose concentration but fortunately we were able to regain control of the match later into the second period.”

However, the Sepahan boss was less than pleased with his side’s finishing, stressing they were fortunate missed chances did not ultimately cost them.

“I am very unhappy that we missed a myriad of chances during the game. There’s an unwritten law in football that teams who don’t take advantage of their scoring chances will lose at the end of the day.

“Had we converted only some of our chances, we would have won the game by three or four goals.

“But I am pleased with my players’ display and my substitutions. After Hossein Papi and (Mahdi) Jafarpoursorkhi came on, they helped ease the pressure on the team.

“We should admit that the players are suffering from exhaustion and that is affecting our overall performance. However, we put on a high-quality show tonight.”

Al Hilal’s Argentinian manager Gabriel Calderon was also pleased with a battling display from the Saudis.

“The game was very tough for us,” he said.

“Two very good teams faced each other and I’d like to applaud my players’ performance as they’ve been able to hold Sepahan at home.

“We were here in Esfahan to win the game but they’re a very strong team and we drew. In the next match we will be certainly focused on winning and getting all three points.

“Today we were in better shape against Sepahan compared to the first game in Riyadh (Al Hilal lost 2-1), where seven players were ruled out due to injury. Currently we have only three injured players.

“We devised good attacks on Sepahan’s goal, but their powerful defence kept us from winning the match.”