Nilmar tells Al Nasr to build on Asian Champions League win over Sepahan

The Dubai club defeated Iran’s Sepahan 2-0 at Al Maktoum Stadium in their second fixture in Group A, ending a run of four matches without a win.

Al Nasr ( blue ) vs Sepahan ( black/yellow ) durng the Asian Football Cup in Dubai on Tuesday March 1, 2016. Ashraf Umrah / Al Ittihad

John McAuley

Mar 02, 2016

DUBAI // Nilmar says Al Nasr must build on Tuesday's restorative victory in the Asian Champions League.

The Dubai club defeated Iran’s Sepahan 2-0 at Al Maktoum Stadium in their second fixture in Group A, ending a run of four matches without a win. In fact, it was only Nasr’s second success in eight games.

With the three points, Ivan Jovanovic’s team moved top of their pool, despite having lost last week’s opener to Sepahan, as they look to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time.

Nasr still have plenty to play for this season, since they sit third in the Arabian Gulf League, level on points with fourth-placed Al Wasl with seven rounds remaining.

Nilmar, who scored the opener against Sepahan, has therefore urged his teammates to use the momentum from Tuesday’s triumph to ensure they enjoy a strong finish to the campaign.

“The victory is very important,” he said. “After the last two games we lost, the players started from the first minute to fight to win this game, because everyone stayed strong.

“For us, it’s very important to continue like this, because we have now got our first three Champions League points and we have to continue with this power. Because the Champions League is different to the league, we need to keep this concentration.”

Jires Kembo Ekoko echoed Nilmar’s sentiments, adding: “It was really important for us to win this game. Like in our last game, in the second half we saw a team with good spirit. It’s OK, we believe in ourselves.

“It wasn’t easy to play this game because we have a lot of matches every two or three days, but I was so happy because we came to the pitch in good spirit and we fought for each other.

“We have a lot of games, but have a good group, we work a lot and I hope we’ll continue with the same spirit.”

jmcauley@thenational.ae