Ivan Jovanovic praised his Al Nasr side for a well-deserved victory against Al Ittihad in the Asian Champions League, as they seized control of Group A.
The Dubai club shrugged off their recent domestic troubles to triumph 2-1 at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, with Nilmar scoring either side of Gelmin Rivas’ first-half equaliser.
Nasr were not expected to have much success against the experienced Saudis, given they have won only two of their past nine matches. However, they built upon their Champions League win earlier this month against Iran’s Sepahan and now top the group at the halfway stage with two victories from three fixtures.
Read more: Al Jazira play hearts out for point and Al Nasr go top in fine ACL night for UAE sides
Jovanovic was understandably pleased with the result.
“We achieved what we wanted from this match and added three important points against such strong opponents,” he said. “The match was not easy and I’m happy that my players followed our instructions.
“We put pressure on our opponents and controlled the midfield, which affected them as they couldn’t create many scoring chances.”
The win puts Nasr in position to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition for the first time in their history. However, with all four teams already off the mark – Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv Tashkent make up the group – Jovanovic has warned the job is nowhere yet complete.
“Despite the win, all the teams in the group still have a chance to go through,” he said, while expressing his delight in Nasr’s ability to come away from Jeddah with the spoils. “What’s added to the win is we were able to win against a great team in Al Ittihad, who have a long experience of games at this level.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
