Al Wahda’s Javier Aguirre laments late Asian Champions League loss to Persepolis: ‘the players panicked’

Persepolis players celebrate after winning their Asian Champions League group match against Al Wahda on February 28, 2017, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Nezar Balout / AFP

ABU DHABI // Mehdi Taremi struck twice in the last nine minutes for Persepolis to snatch the game away from Al Wahda in their Asian Champions League match.

Taremi scored the Iranians’ second goal to level the scores before volleying the winner on the stroke of full time to leave the home fans heartbroken at Al Nahyan Stadium.

The visitors got off to a flying start. Vahid Ameri provided them with a fourth-minute lead but Wahda rallied through second half strikes from Ismail Matar and Jorge Valdivia. However, what looked a certain victory for the home side turned into second defeat in two Group D matches in the closing minutes as the players panicked, according to Javier Aguirre, the Wahda manager.

“After taking the lead we had two clear scoring chances that could have killed the game. But that didn’t happen,” he said. “We played better in the second half, however, we fell flat in the last 10 minutes, perhaps, the players panicked.”

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Branko Ivankovic, the Persepolis manager, praised his players for the character they showed to win from a losing situation.

“I want to congratulate my players for a good game,” he said. “It was a real hard game and to come back from 2-1 but we deserved it.

“We led 1-0 in the first half and missed a few good scoring opportunities. Had we scored another goal or two the game would have been safer for us, because I know players like [Sebastian] Tagliabue, Valdivia and Matar are dangerous and can turn the game around at any time.”

It was a first win for Persepolis in this year’s competition after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in their opener.

“We are in a group of death and the three points are very important for us to keep our hopes of qualifying to the knockout round,” Ivankovic said.

Wahda became the third UAE club to concede a goal in the first four minutes of play in this year’s Champions League after Al Ahli and Al Jazira both conceded a goal in the first minute in their respective group matches 24 hours earlier.

Vahid Amiri poked home a Taremi pass following a long, hopeful ball into the Wahda area from Jalal Hosseini.

Wahda had an opportunity to cancel the lead but Rim Chang-woo’s header in a goalmouth melee ricocheted off the bar.

Rashed Ali, the Wahda keeper, made a couple of good saves to keep the scoreline down. He blocked Kamaleddin Kamyabinia’s effort from close range after the Iranian had broken the offside trap before smothering at Taremi’s feet in the six-yard box.

Valdivia set up Matar in front of the goal on 58 minutes and the captain, on as a second-half substitute, dispatched expertly past the Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to level the scores.

Provider then turned scorer. Hosseini fumbled an attempted clearance, allowing Tagliabue to pull the ball back for Valdivia to fire in to the right top corner.

Taremi headed a Hosseini cross to level the scores on 81 minutes before volleying the winner right on the final whistle.

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