Bahrain's Al Khaldiya went down fighting last night in their quest to secure a berth in the quarter-finals of the 2024-25 AFC Champions League (ACL) Two.
The kingdom’s representatives drew 3-3 with Iran’s Tractor FC in a heart-stopping second leg of their round-of-16 clash, played at a packed Yadegar-E-Imam Stadium in Tabriz.
Khaldiya thus narrowly lost 4-5 on aggregate, coming a goal shy of sending yesterday’s affair into extra time. Khaldiya bowed to Tractor 1-2 at home in the first leg last week.
The tie-break rule, which discounts the number of away goals scored by either side in their head-to-head, was confirmed last night by the Bahrain Football Association.
Bahrain international striker Mahdi Abduljabbar came on as a substitute just before the break to help fuel Khaldiya’s charge in the second half. He contributed a brace and almost completed a hat-trick seconds before the final whistle. Mohammed Al Rumaihi fired in Khaldiya’s other goal.
Both teams had many more chances throughout the match, but they both came up short in their attempts to finish.
With last night’s result, Tractor move on to the ACL Two quarter-finals, where they will face the winners of the other head-to-head between Al Wakrah of Qatar and Al Taawoun of Saudi Arabia. Wakrah and Taawoun played to a 2-2 draw in their first-leg contest in Doha and will next lock horns tonight in the Saudi city of Buraidah.
The ACL Two is the second-tier club competition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Rebranded from the AFC Cup, it is one level below the AFC Champions League Elite and one above the AFC Challenge League.
In yesterday’s stalemate, Khaldiya were on the back foot in the early stages as Tractor made the most of their home-field advantage, playing in front of a reported 50,000-plus crowd.
Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh put the home side in front at the quarter-hour mark following a brilliant through-pass from Mehdi Torabi. The assist sent him on for a one-on-one with Khaldiya goalkeeper Mohamed Abdelrahim Elgharably, and he made no mistake slotting home despite pressure from Khaldiya’s chasing Serbian defender Jovan Marinkovic.
Tractor doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute when Croatian Tomislav Strkalj scored from close range. His effort came after a shot by Hosseinzadeh was saved by Elgharably, but the rebound went straight to Strkalj, who fired in with a volley to the bottom-right corner of the net.
After the re-start, Khaldiya got into their groove and Abduljabbar fired in their first goal in the 57th minute. He connected on a cross from the left delivered by Omani Salaah Al Yahyaei and managed to get enough of a touch with his boot to push the ball into goal. Tractor goalkeeper Safar Beiranvand tried to prevent it from getting past the goal line, but it stood and Khalidya were back in the fight.
Abduljabbar then tied the match only six minutes later to give his team life. A careless pass from Shojae Khalilzadeh to Beiranvand in their own penalty box was not controlled, and Abduljabbar pounced on the chance, tapping in from close range to level the game.
But Tractor regained the match advantage – and a two-goal cushion on aggregate – when Torabi scored inside the area in the 71st minute.
Khaldiya continued to battle and Al Yahyaei had a shot fly just over the crossbar in the 90th minute. Al Rumaihi then scored their third in the third minute of second-half stoppage time when he headed in off an Al Yahyaei cross.
That set the stage for tense closing moments, and Abduljabbar almost completed their miraculous comeback with a 96th minute effort inches from goal, but it was collected by Beiranvand.
The ACL Two quarters are scheduled to be held next month while the semi-finals will take place in April. Both rounds will be held over two legs. The ACL Two then culminates in a single-game final on May 17.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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