AFC - Shabab Al Ahli and 10-man Tractor FC battled to a 1-1 stalemate in their opening AFC Champions League Elite™ 2025/26 match at the Rashid Stadium on Tuesday.
Tomislav Strkalj’s thunderous first-half shot and Guilherme Bala’s opportunistic strike after the break meant the sides had to settle for a point each.
An underwhelming opening 10 minutes came to life when Tractor’s Shoja Khalilzadeh sent a cross from his own half to Strkalj, who came down the middle and struck a spectacular 25-yard strike past a rooted Hamad Almeqbaali in the 14th minute.
The first-time Iran Pro League champions began to exert control, with an unmarked Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh ballooning his shot from the edge of the box after being set up by Mehdi Hashemnejad in the 29th minute.
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Shabab Al Ahli, who seemed to have trouble getting their attack together, had their first clear shot at goal in the 37th minute when Guilherme Bala’s attempt from distance crashed against the underside of the bar.
A mis-cue at the other end from Strkalj inside the box after a pass by Hashemnejad in the 45th minute proved the final offensive display from both sides in the first half.
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The hosts came out with more determination, and a jinking run from Bala down the left three minutes into the second half ended with Saeid Ezatolahi blasting the ball over the bar.
Tractor went down to 10 men in the 51st minute when a VAR decision saw Domagoj Drozdek’s yellow card being upgraded to red after the striker had brought down Ezatolahi.
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Custodian Ali Beiranvand went full stretch to tip the ball over the bar from Federico Cartabia’s shot from distance in the 60th minute, but after blocking an attempt from Yuri Cesar, failed to stop Bala from jumping on the rebound and slotting home five minutes later for the equaliser.
It was Shabab Al Ahli all the way in the last 20 minutes, with Cesar striking the underside of the bar in the 79th minute and substitute Reza Ghandipour seeing his two attempts saved by Beiranvand soon after.
Tractor’s Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh had the ball in the net in the 85th minute but was flagged offside as the match ended in a stalemate.
