Tripoli: Goals from Abdul Aziz and Walid Fattouh ensured Tripoli fought back from going a goal behind to defeat FC Istiklol 2-1 in Group B of the 2016 AFC Cup on Tuesday.
Oleksandr Kablash gave the club from Tajikistan the lead 10 minutes into the second half, but three minutes later Aziz levelled for the Lebanese outfit, before Fattouh gave his side all three points with a goal four minutes from time.
“This win was important for us. Our players put in an excellent performance and they showed that they are capable of winning against strong teams,” said Tripoli coach Nizar Mahrous. “We tried our best to take advantage of the chances that we created and the weaknesses of our opponents.
“Despite the win, there were some mistakes and hopefully we will try to learn from the lessons of this match. We should avoid these mistakes and focus on the positives.”
Istiklol had the better of a quiet first half and it was the visitors who took the lead in the 55th minute when second-half substitute Akmal Holmatov broke down the right before sending in a cross that Kablash headed beyond Tripoli goalkeeper Siraj El Samad.
The lead, however, was only to last three minutes when Ghanaian striker Aziz netted from close range after the Istiklol defence was incapable of clearing a corner.
The game looked set to end in a draw until, with four minutes remaining, Fattouh hit a long-range effort beyond Nikola Stosic to seal all three points for the Lebanese side.
“We were not lucky today while our opponents managed to score two goals and win the match,” said Istiklol coach Mubin Ergashev. “We had an average match. We concentrated well in the first half but things changed when we took the lead.
“The opening goal changed the match. Some of our players thought that it will be an easy match and they underestimated our opponents, who took advantage of their few chances and scored two goals.”
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