Kasimov winner shoots Al-Ahly Dubai out of Asian Champions League action

Persianleague
- Nov 28, 2002
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MEF - DUBAI, Nov. 27: Uzbekistan national team skipper Kasimov was introduced to the game midway through the second-half against Al-Ahly, it took him only four minutes to bang in the game's lone goal, to steer Pakhtakor Tashkent to a 1-0 away victory over the local Reds, as the Uzbek side moved to the 5th Round of the Asian Champions league 4-2 on-aggregate.

Al-Ahly, trying in front of a capacity crowd to claim a home win after being handed a narrow 3-2 defeat away in Tashkent, had only themselves to blame for missing no les than 7 clear-cut opportunity throughout the 90 minutes, as bad finishing was their trademark of the night, reminiscent of their from in local league action here in the United Arab Emirates.


Ironically enough, it was new Iranian import Javad Kazemian, signed only 24 yours earlier, who was the culprit when missing two outstanding openers in the first 45 minutes to virtually kill the game, with compatriot Ali Karimi wasting two others after the restart, as Al-Ahly failed to materialize their overwhelming upper hand over their counterparts, notably in midfield.

Schemer Hassan Ali Ibrahim emulated his team mates in the opening stages of the second-half when he fired the ball over the crossbar with only keeper Nesterov at his mercy, before the visitors claimed their winning goal in the 71st minute, fresh sub Kasimov rifled a blistering left-footed ball from just inside the 18-yard box past keeper Ali Saeed, after the defensive line failed to clear away a stupendous free-kick by Kasimov himself.

The remainder of the game saw central defender Ashurmatov and keeper Nesterov in commanding mood for Pakhtakor Tashkent, with Al-Ahly needing to score 3 goals in less than 20 minutes, something quite impossible with their erratic final touch, before crashing out of the competition 4-2 on-aggregate.

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