Doha: Air Force Club extended their lead at the top of Group C of the 2016 AFC Cup on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Syria’s Al Wahda thanks to a goal in first-half stoppage time from Hammadi Ahmed.
The Iraqis moved five points clear of second placed Al Dharia having amassed nine points from their first four games thanks to Ahmed’s header in the first minute of additional time at the end of the opening period.
“The victory is very important for us because we are now close to qualifying from the group and we have managed to get back on track after our recent poor results,” said Air Force coach Ali Mohsin. “We scored the goal at the right moment and we held onto our lead in the second half.
“The most important thing for us today was to get the three points which kept us top of the group. This win will give us a lot of motivation for the next stage and hopefully we can continue with the same good performances.”
Al Wahda, who remain bottom of the group with just two points, thought they had taken the lead inside the first two minutes when Abdulkader Deka had the ball in the back of the net, only for his strike to be ruled out for offside.
With only seconds remaining in the first half, Air Force Club took the lead. Bashar Resan’s free kick from the left swung towards goal and Ahmed’s glancing header directed the ball past Ibrahim Almeh.
Al Wahda’s Majed Al Haj tried to lob Fahad Talib six minutes after the restart, but the goalkeeper pushed the ball over the bar to safety and seconds later Hamid Mido’s attempt was hacked clear at the other end of the field.
Mohamad Al Ghabbash’s long-range dipping free kick went just over the bar in the 59th minute and, midway through the half, Mido’s spectacular volley from 25 yards out was just off target.
With four minutes to go, Omari’s free kick from wide on the left clipped the Air Force crossbar, but the Iraqis held on to collect all three points and further enhance their chances of advancing to the next round.
“Despite the defeat, we had a good match today and we managed to have a convincing performance,” said Al Wahda coach Raefat Mohammad. “We conceded a goal in the first half but we tried our best to level the scores in the second period but we couldn’t score from the chances we created.
“We put in a lot of effort in the second half as we wanted to score the equaliser but our opponents were good defensively. The result is bad for us as we wanted to get the three points to improve our situation in the group.”
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