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AFC - Islamic Republic of Iran’s Tractor FC fought back to hold Qatar’s Al Wakrah 3-3 in Group A of the AFC Champions League™ 2024/25 at the Rashid Stadium on Wednesday.
The result meant Al Wakrah joined Tractor FC in the knockout stage with the Qatar side to play Tajikistan’s FC Ravshan in their concluding tie next week.
Al Wakrah, who needed just a point to join Tractor in the Round of 16, had a dream start when Shojae Khalilzadeh gave the ball away to Farid Boulaya to set up Ricardo Gomes for a simple finish from close range.
Gomes nearly doubled his tally two minutes later when he broke free of his marker before striking a low drive which was comfortably saved by Tractor keeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Tractor should have levelled after Aissa Laidouni’s deft pass put Farid Boulaya through on goal but the midfielder’s effort was easily collected by Al Wakrah custodian Mohammed Al Bakri.
Al Wakrah maintained their intensity and Beiranvand was forced into action in the 10th minute when he kept out Boulaya’s low effort, before Gomes gave the Iranian shotstopper a scare seven minutes later but pulled his glancing header just wide of the right post.
Tractor stepped up a gear just before the half hour mark when a quick attacking break saw Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh cut through the right flank before sending an inviting cross for Mehdi Hashemnejad, whose shot was kept out by Al Bakri’s quick reflexes.
The Iranian side, however, were back on level terms in the 45th minute after Ricardo Alves sent a well-timed long ball to Hosseinzadeh, who muscled his way past his marker before lifting the ball over Al Bakri.
Al Wakrah came back fighting and retook the lead six minutes after the restart from a set-piece situation with Almahdi Ali steering Gelson Dala’s set-up into the back of the net.
The Qatari side netted again in the 69th minute after Dala found space inside the area before finishing with a curling effort.
Tractor, however, refused to concede defeat with Hashemnejad narrowing the deficit after finishing a fine team move in the 75th minute.
A lapse in concentration paved the way for the Iranian side to draw level for the second time after Hashemnejad’s clever touch past his marker provided the opening for the midfielder to score a clinical finish in the 87th minute.