Al Nasr play it safe while Al Jazira crash out of Asian Champions League

Al Nasr played out a goalless draw against Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia to keep their hopes alive of advancing but Al Jazira crashed out after their 1-0 away defeat to another Saudi Arabia side Al Hilal, writes Amith Passela.

Al Jazira's Thiago Neves, left, vies for the ball against Al-Hilal's Abdullah Al-Zoari during their AFC Champions League Group C football match at the Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh on April 6, 201Show more

Al Nasr played out a goalless draw against Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia to keep their hopes alive of advancing to the round of 16 in the Asian Champions League but Al Jazira crashed out after their 1-0 away defeat to another Saudi Arabia side Al Hilal on Wednesday.

Nasr and Ittihad turned out a dull match but a favourable result for the Dubai side after the Uzbek club Lokomotiv edged out Sepahan of Iran 1-0 in the early game in Group A.

Nasr took their tally to seven points, one behind leaders Lokomotiv while Sepahan and the two-time winners of the continental championships Ittihad were left on three points each with two games left.

Read more: Douglas at the double as Al Ain secure victory over Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli in ACL

Not many scoring chances were created and the two goalkeepers were hardly tested at the Al Maktoum Stadium.

The closest any side came to break the deadlock was a left-footed strike from Abdulfattah Asiri from inside the area which was punched out by Ahmed Shambih in the 76th minute.

Ittihad ended the game with 10 players with a minute left when Ahmed Asiri was booked for the second time by Australian referee Christopher Beath.

Ittihad, champions in 2004 and 2005, have yet to record a win in this year’s campaign.

Meanwhile, Hilal edged out Jazira to consolidate their second place behind Tractor Sazi of Iran in Group C.

The Brazilian Ailton rose above all to knock in a header off a corner to seal the game at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Stadium in Riyadh. Hilal enjoyed both possession and territory in abundance in the first half and were rewarded with the only goal.

Jazira did come back strongly in the second half and created chances but they either broke down or were off target.

Hilal, backed by more than 10,000 home fans, took control in the last 15 minutes and nearly doubled the lead in added time when Yasir Al Shahrani’s effort crashed against the near post.

In other ACL action, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Shanghai SIPG moved to the verge of the knockout rounds with a 2-0 away win over Japan’s Gamba Osaka yesterday.

Second-half goals from Wu Lei and Lu Wenjun made it three wins out of four for SIPG, spearheaded by Guangzhou Evergrande old boys Elkeson and Dario Conca, as they tightened their grip on Group G.

Playmaker Conca fired warning shots in the first half when his free kick was blocked on the line and another effort dropped at the feet of Yu Hai, who embarrassingly missed an open goal.

In the 66th minute, Conca fed Wu on the edge of the box and the forward exchanged a one-two with Lu before he planted the return ball past Gamba goalkeeper Masaaki Higashiguchi.

SIPG cashed in on errors in the Gamba box six minutes later when Wu’s shot was parried by the goalkeeper and only half-cleared to Lu, who swung and blasted it home first time.

Elsewhere, Vietnam’s Binh Duong got their first win in Group E when they stunned 2006 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai 3-2, sealed by Nguyen Anh Duc’s second penalty of the night on 88 minutes.

* With agencies

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