Ahal football players won the first ever victory in the AFC Champions League, confidently beating the Qatari Al-Gharafa - 4: 2 at a two-round tournament held in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) with the participation of four teams from Turkmenistan, Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Recall that in the opening match, the team of the Main Directorate "Turkmennebitonumleri", making its debut in this prestigious club competition in Asia, played a draw - 1: 1 with the finalist of the AFC Champions League-2015, the bronze medalist of the United Arab Emirates "Shabab Al-Ahly" from Dubai. This was followed by four defeats: 0:2 - in the first match from Al-Gharafa, two with the same score 0:1 - from the Iranian "Fulada" and 1:2 - in the second match from "Shabab Al-Ahli".
The Qataris scored 5 points in the first three matches, but then lost to Shabab Al-Ahly - 2:8 and Foulad - 0:1 and rolled back to third place, also losing their chances of reaching the 1/8 finals.
Thus, the final match in group "C" between "Ahal" and "Al-Gharafa" had no tournament value.
Despite this, the playmaker of the vice-champions of Turkmenistan, Resul Khodjaev, said at the pre-match press conference that the team is hungry for revenge and will strive for victory.
“This is Ahal's first participation in the AFC Champions League, and therefore it is very important for us to finish the tournament with a victory,” he said.
Working since 2021 with the Al-Gharafa club as the head coach, the Italian specialist Andrea Stramaccioni set up his wards to win as well.
"We know this is not a key game, but we will do our best to finish the tournament in the best possible way," he said.
Ahal opened the scoring rather quickly: in the 9th minute, Arslanmurad Amanov converted a penalty after Al-Gharafa defender Al-Hajj played with his hand in his own penalty area.
10 minutes before the end of the first half, Moaed Hassan, having received a return pass from Sufian Hanni, restored the balance with a shot from outside the penalty area into the bottom corner of the goal - 1:1. And yet, the teams went to the break with the score 2:1 in favor of Ahal. At the 38th minute, Abdy Byashimov performed a cross from the right flank, after which the ball from the defender flew off to Mirza Beknazarov, and he accurately hit the "nine" in his left.
At the end of the hour of the game, Meylis Diniev could increase the score, but, closing Serdar Geldiev's pass from the left flank, he shot just above the gate.
The third goal still took place in the 70th minute after Mostafa Essam knocked down Resul Khodzhaev in his own penalty area, and Arslanmurad Amanov again converted a penalty.
Ten minutes later, Arslanmurad scored for the third time, thus becoming the first player from Turkmenistan to score a hat-trick in the AFC Champions League. To date, A. Amanov, with 4 goals in six matches, is fourth in the list of scorers in the AFC Champions League-2022.
Finished the game "Akhal" in the minority after being sent off for two yellow cards in the 3rd minute compensated for the main time of the game by Serdar Geldiyev. In the 4th added minute, Sufian Hanni reduced the gap to two goals from an 11-meter free kick, but the Qatari club failed to achieve more.
Having defeated the seven-time champion in the past and the owner of the Emir's Cup of Qatar, the Ahal players completed their performance in their first AFC Champions League with 4 points.
At the post-match press conference, the head coach of the vice-champions of Turkmenistan, Rovshan Mukhadov, said that their historic victory in the AFC Champions League would be a springboard for the club and players in the growth of sportsmanship.
“Congratulations to my students. It was a good test for them. Our main goal was to gain experience and become better. We analyzed every match and gradually improved the game. I hope we will return to the AFC Champions League in the future as a better and more experienced team,” R. Mukhadov said.
