Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ashgabat: Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr remained second in Group A of the 2016 AFC Cup on Tuesday as Dmitriy Korj’s side held Jordan’s Al Wehdat to a scoreless draw at Kopetdag Stadium.
The sharing of the points means Altyn Asyr move on to six points from four games while Al Wehdat sit just a point behind with only two matches left in the group stage. Altyn Asyr trail group leaders Al Ahed, from Lebanon, by three points.
“The match was very tough and both teams tried to play good attacking football,” said Altyn Asyr coach Korj. “My team wanted to win the game and the fans helped us today to give our best on the field.
“I think it’s a good result for us as after four rounds we have no losses. This competition is an important experience for us and we will try to take all our chances.
“We will continue our battle in the last rounds and we are expecting two very interesting games. If we can collect important points against Al Ahed and Al Hidd then the next stage will come closer.”
The home side shaded the game but were unable to take advantage of their marginal superiority, with Zafar Babajanov trying his luck from long range only to find the arms of Mahmoud Qandil in the 30th minute.
Five minutes after the restart, Suleyman Muhadov headed just wide before Murat Yakshiyev thought he had finally put his side in fronts as the game approached the final quarter only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Al Wehdat had few opportunities, with only Rajaei Ayed causing any real problems for the Altyn Asyr defence when, halfway through the first period, he sent his free header just wide of Mamed Orazmuhamedov’s left post.
“We had some injured players in our squad and this affected our game. We tried to win and created some chances, but we couldn’t make the most of them.Our opponents also played without making any serious mistakes.” said Al Wehdat coach Raed Assaf.
“We are in third position in the group and we need to win our next games. We will try to do that, it’s our target. We want to continue into the Round of 16 and further. We have a chance and we have to fight until the end.”