Time runs out on Al Shabab

Two goals more than 90 minutes apart helped Sepahan down a battling Al Shabab in their Group D match in Esfahan, Iran yesterday. The hosts took the lead after just 51 seconds when Seyed Mehdi Salehi slipped in from the right to flick home Hadi Aghily's cross. The second came two minutes into injury time when an innocuous long-range shot from Armando Sa slipped through Ismael Rabea's hands.

Between those two goals, Shabab battled hard. Musawengosi Mguni thought he should have got a penalty in the 21st minute after being pushed off the ball, but the referee thought otherwise. Marcos Assuncao had a curling free-kick in the 41st minute tipped away by the Sepahan keeper Rahman Ahmadi. Ahmadi denied Shabab again in the 85th minute, punching away Salem Saad's scorcher that followed a one-two between him and Khalid Darwish.

arizvi@thenational.ae