Tehran Times - Al Wehdat of Jordan came from behind to defeat Iran’s Sepahan 2-1 in their opening AFC Champions League Two Group C tie on Tuesday.
Trailing to a Vahdat Hanonov opener, Ousseynou Gueye drew Al Wehdat level before a second half strike from Ibrahim Sabra confirmed the points for the home side at Amman International Stadium.
The visitors gained an early upper hand with a goal in the ninth minute as Mehdi Mohebi held off a defender to lay the ball for Tajikistan international Hanonov to curl beyond Abdallah Al Fakhouri.
Al Wehdat played their way back into the game and found the equaliser in the 22nd minute after a purposeful run from Mohannad Semreen saw him get past Arya Yousefi before playing Gueye through to dink the ball over Payam Niazmand.
Sepahan created an opening with seven minutes left to play in the first half when Saleh Hardani’s cross from the right found Javad Aghaeipour, only for the latter’s shot to be turned away by Al Fakhouri.
After a scrappy start to the second half, the game burst into life in the 55th minute when Semreen produced an exquisite pass to pick out the run of substitute Sabra, who slotted past Niazmand for Al Wehdat to take the lead.
Forced to respond, Sepahan’s Jose Morais made four substitutions at one go, sending on Steven Nzonzi, Reza Asadi, Hossein Goodarzi and Aboubakar Kamara as the Portuguese head coach looked to salvage the game, the-afc.com reported.
However, it was the hosts who came close to increasing their lead in the 72nd minute when Sabra forced Niazmand into a good save before sending his follow-up effort against the post.
Defending comfortably in numbers and with Sepahan's Hadi Mohammadi sent off in stoppage time, Al Wehdat saw off the remainder of the game to claim the win. They will next face UAE’s Sharjah FC while Sepahan will host FC Istiklol of Tajikistan with both matches to be played on October 2.