The 4th round of the Champions League AFC-2 group stage ended in draws for the Turkmen football clubs «Arkadag» and «Ahal».
The current champion of Turkmenistan, playing in Group «B», hosted «Al Ahli», who finished fourth in the Qatar Stars League (top division) last season, at the «Arkadag» stadium, with the support of 10 thousand spectators. Two weeks ago, these teams met in Doha. Back then, men of Vladimir Bayramov snatched a 2-2 draw in the first minute of stoppage time.
«Al Ahli», which has 13 foreign players from Belgium, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Morocco, the Netherlands, France, Finland, Croatia and Sudan, arrived for the return match in Turkmenistan without two key players due to injuries: 32-year-old 2014 World Cup champion and 2017 Confederations Cup winner, German midfielder Julian Draxler and 29-year-old Spanish forward Eric Expósito.
«Arkadag» and «Al Ahli» entered their second head-to-head match at opposite ends of the table. After the halfway point, the Qatari club led Group «B» with 6 points, one point ahead of «Al-Khaldiya» of Bahrain and three ahead of «Andijan» of Uzbekistan. «Arkadag», meanwhile, was at the bottom of the table with two points.
The position of teams in the standings obliged the reigning champions of Turkmenistan to play for a win. «Arkadag» launched an attacking attack from the very first minutes. However, experienced «Al-Ahli» soon seized the initiative and opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. The goal was scored by 28-year-old Dutch international Michiel Vlap, known for his time with Belgian side «Anderlecht» and Dutch side FC «Twente», who fired a well-placed shot from under the foot of Velmyrat Ballakov into the far bottom corner of the goal.
«Arkadag» escaped defeat thanks to an own goal in the 26th minute by 31-year-old Croatian legionnaire Matej Mitrovic, who headed the ball into his own net after a cross from the right flank by Arzuvguly Sapargulyev.
The second half saw a significant advantage for «Arkadag», who exerted considerable effort to snatch victory. However, the visitors managed to hold on for a 1-1 draw.
In another match held simultaneously in Arad (Bahrain), the local club «Al-Khaldiya» played to a 0:0 draw with Uzbek «Andijan» at the «Al-Muharraq» stadium in front of 244 spectators.
After these matches, the standings look like this: «Al-Ahli» has 7 points after 5 games, «Al-Khaldiya» has 6 points after 5 games, «Andijan» has 4 points after 4 games, and «Arkadag» has 3 points after 4 games. Despite dropping 2 points in the game against «Al-Ahli», «Arkadag» still has a chance to reach the playoffs.
As a reminder, the top two teams from the group stage will advance to the round of 16. «Arkadag» will play its next match away against «Andijan» on the 26th of November, and will host «Al-Khaldiya» Stadium in the final round on the 24th of December at its home stadium.
Another Turkmen club, «Ahal», faced Iranian «Sepahan» in Isfahan in the fourth round of Group «C». The game, officiated by FIFA referee Razlan Joffrey Ali from Malaysia, took place at the «Naghsh-e-Jahan» Stadium in front of 8050 spectators.
«Sepahan» is one of the most successful football clubs in Iran. It was founded on the 5th of October 5, 1953. In 2007, «Sepahan» reached the final of premier club competition of Asia, the AFC Champions League, and also became the first Iranian team to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, where they reached the quarterfinals after defeating «Waitakere United» of New Zealand in the opening match. «Sepahan» has also won the Persian gulf League (top division of Iran) five times, won the Iranian Super Cup in 2024, and finished as runners-up of the Iranian Championship last season.
Two weeks earlier, «Ahal» had already faced «Sepahan» in a home match of the AFC-2 Champions league at the same stadium in Isfahan. And then the team of the Main directorate of «Turkmennebitonumleri» only lost by a narrow margin at the end of the match - 0:1.
In the return match, vice-champion of Turkmenistan nearly caused a sensation, putting up a real fight against a strong opponent on their own home field. After conceding a quick goal in the 9th minute following a precise shot from inside the penalty area by Arash Rezavand, men of Velsahet Ovezov remained unfazed and tied the score at 1-1 before the break. In the 27th minute, Alibek Abdyrahmanov intercepted an unsuccessful cross-ball from the Iranians, broke past a defender into the opposing penalty area, and delivered a superb pass to Suleyman Mirzoyev, who had no choice but to fire the ball into the net.
Midway through the second half, «Ahal» took a 2-1 lead. In the 62nd minute, Turkmen captain Elman Tagayev delivered a perfect free kick to Bagtyar Gurgenov, who headed the ball past goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini.
In the 65th minute, the referee sent off Azat Rahmanov, who received a second yellow card for a foul on Spanish international Ivan Sanchez. But even after this, remaining in the minority, «Ahal» fought hard against their experienced opponents, hoping to hold on to the lead that would give the Turkmen club a chance to advance to the playoffs.
With the score 2-1 in favour of the visitors, the referee added six minutes of added time to the second half. The minutes ticked away, and it seemed that «Ahal» would secure the victory. However, with 11 seconds remaining in stoppage time, Mohammad Askari capitalised on a superb cross from Ari Yousefi from the right flank and fired a precise shot into the top corner of the goal to save «Sepahan» from defeat.
With a 2-2 draw, «Ahal» lost its chance to advance to the round of 16. As a reminder, the runners-up of Turkmenistan had previously defeated Indian club «Mohun Bagan» 1-0, but that result was annulled due to the disqualification of Indian champion. All this naturally could not help but affect position of our team in the tournament.
As of today, the situation in Group «C» is as follows: Jordanian champion «Al-Hussein» is in the lead with 6 points, Iranian «Sepahan» has 4 points, and «Ahal» has 1 point.
There are two games left to play in this group: «Sepahan – «Al-Hussein» on the 25th of November and «Al-Hussein» – «Ahal» on the 23rd of December.
«GA» correspondent
Photo: AFC
