Al Nasr 1 (Kembo Ekoko 31')
Lokomotiv 1 (Abdukholiqov 43')
Man of match: Ahmed Ibrahim (Al Nasr)
DUBAI // Al Nasr's wait for a place in the Asian Champions League knockouts stages rumbles on.
The Dubai club, never before beyond the group stage in two previous attempts, required victory against Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv on Wednesday in their penultimate Group A encounter to guarantee progression, but let slip a one-goal lead to draw.
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Jires Kembo Ekoko struck to get Nasr off to a perfect start at Al Maktoum Stadium, but from there the hosts were largely second best. They conceded just before half time, to Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov’s close-range header, and in all probability must now eke out at least a draw in the return fixture in two weeks’ time.
Nasr, second in the group to Lokomotiv, still have some work to do. Coach Ivan Jovanovic conceded disappointment not to seal qualification was his overriding emotion, but he was content Nasr live to fight another day.
“Yes, this is true, but I can say my players tried a lot in today’s game,” he said. “And we had to play against a very good team – a team that you could see in the second half were fresher than us.
“But as we have played in all the Champions League games, we’ll go and play the same in Tashkent. We are not afraid of the game, we showed our value in all of the games and we will give all our efforts in Tashkent.”
Initially, Nasr’s effort was spot on. Kembo Ekoko opening the scoring moments after the half-hour, taking charge of a Nasr breakaway to step inside the backtracking Lokomotiv defence. As he advanced, the Frenchman curled a shot into the net from roughly 25 yards.
Nesterov, the opposition goalkeeper, stood motionless as the ball arced past him and nestled not too far inside his far corner. Perhaps he was just having an indifferent day.
Nevertheless, it got better two minutes before half time, when Abdukholiqov nodded home after captain Timur Kapadze flicked on a corner. There was a bunch of Nasr players in attendance, yet Abdukholiqov reacted fastest to level.
Lokomotiv were the better side in the second half, as Jovanovic had predicted pre-match. The Uzbeks are only five rounds into their domestic season and the freshness told, with Nasr requiring a goal-line clearance from Ahmed Ibrahim and a fine save from goalkeeper Ahmed Shambieh to keep the score at 1-1.
At the other end, Jonathan Pitroipa spurned Nasr’s best chance in the latter stages when he hesitated with only Nesterov to beat. The Burkino Faso winger did not even manage to get his shot away.
Andrey Miklyaev, the visiting coach, seemed satisfied to leave with a point well-earned.
“I can say to my team we played normal, not good and not bad,” he said.
“Anywhere we play we always try to play for victory, and despite the draw here we tried to win the match. Our goal is to take first place in this group.”
So Nasr concluded the match by stretching their Champions League unbeaten streak to four. Make that five, and they are favourites to qualify, finally, for the last 16.
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