Ahli to proceed with caution

Dubai - Lima's diving and decisive header at the Azadi Stadium in midweek has afforded Ahli the comparative luxury of being able to draw the subsequent home encounter on Wednesday, September 16th and still make it through to the last four regardless.

 Al Ahli's match-winner and manager have both insisted the Red Knights must approach the return leg of their Asian Champions League quarterfinal against Naft Tehran with a mixture of caution and confidence.
Lima's diving and decisive header at the Azadi Stadium in midweek has afforded Ahli the comparative luxury of being able to draw the subsequent home encounter on Wednesday, September 16th and still make it through to the last four regardless.
However, a 1-0 defeat after 90 minutes on UAE soil next month would take the tie into extra-time and - potentially - a penalty shootout, whereas any other reverse would see Cosmin Olaroiu's men crash out of the continental competition.
"It was a very tough game," admitted Lima, who was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) accolade after the game for his pivotal performance.
"Congratulations to all of the Al Ahli staff and my team-mates, who fought hard for this (1-0) victory.
"We progressively increased our performance level; we created two chances in the first half and then, after the interval, we scored and defended perfectly.
"We haven't achieved our goal yet though and we have to remain focused as we still have one game left back In Dubai.
"We've only won the first half of this game. The second period is in three weeks' time back home. We don't expect any easy game because Naft are a very strong team physically. We have to keep focused and concentrate to qualify."
Olaroiu himself shared similar sentiments to his Brazilian star striker, with Naft's potency from dead-ball deliveries always likely to pose problems to an opposing defence.
"There are still 90 minutes remaining and it's not going to be easy," the Romanian coach, 46, added.
"We know how strong Naft are with free-kicks and at set pieces, so we shouldn't think that we are already past this stage now."
Naft boss Ali Reza Mansourian meanwhile blamed a thoughtless mistake for the narrow loss, yet he still promised they'd redouble their efforts to qualify at Rashid Stadium here.
"We conceded a goal due to my players being careless," he stated. "That is what I was afraid of during the whole 90 minutes of the match.
"Al Ahli were smarter than us and managed to score a goal. We've lost the first leg, but we now have some days to work on our weaknesses and instruct our players - especially the younger ones - on some factors to get everyone ready for the second match."
alex@khaleejtimes.com