Sepahan Pakhtakor

AFC - Sajad Shahbazadeh’s late strike handed Sepahan FC a valuable 2-1 win over Pakhtakor FC in their penultimate Group D match in the AFC Champions League™ 2022 at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

With Dragan Ceran out injured and Mirzhalol Mirakhmedov suspended, the Tashkent-based side were forced to shake things up in their frontline, switching to just one man up front in Oliver Sarkic flanked by Sardor Rashidov and Hojimat Erkinov.

The first 10 minutes saw Farshad Ahmadzadeh and Rashidov both miss two chances that were not converted into an end product as the two sides tried to impose themselves in possession.

It wasn’t until the 38th minute of play that the biggest chance of the first period fell for Slavce Vojneski’s men, when Odiljon Khamrobekov smashed a corner that fell his way goalwards, but Mohamed Nejad’s positioning helped him deflect the ball, with goalkeeper Rashid Mazaheri fisting it out of play.

A few minutes into the second half, Azizbek Turgunboev missed a point blank header after making a run behind the Sepahan defence to latch onto Rashidov’s cross from deep, but he headed it straight into the arms of Mazaheri. A minute later, Rashidov himself had a shot from outside the area comfortably held by the Iranian keeper.

Danial Esmaelifar missed a good chance for Moharram Navidkia’s men when he broke forward, shrugged off several challenges before succumbing to pressure from Oleksii Larin but letting fly nonetheless, with his shot marginally missing the target.

Sepahan Pakhtakor

The scoring was finally opened in the 76th minute, when substitutes Milad Jahani and Shahbazadeh combined beautifully - the former with a cross from the left flank and the latter with a smashing volley into Sanjar Kuvvatov’s net.

Pakhtakor replied instantly, with a blistering attack that saw full-backs Farrukh Sayfiev and Khojiakbar Alijonov combine - the former crossed it and the latter produced a diving header while virtually unchallenged to make the score 1-1.

Deep into stoppage time, Shahbazadeh got his second of the night when he met Reza Mirzaei’s low cross, tapping it into the net and breathing life into Sepahan’s bid for progression to the Round of 16 in the AFC Champions League.

The final round of matches in Group D sees already-eliminated Pakhtakor take on hosts Al Taawoun FC, while Sepahan face Al Duhail SC on Tuesday.

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