Al Ain, Esteghlal share the spoils; Al Wahda rout Zob Ahan in AFC Champions League

After coming close to scoring a number of times, Al Ain finally cancelled the Esteghlal lead in the 78th minute

Tehran /Abu Dhabi - It was mixed luck for the UAE teams against their Iranian rivals in the AFC Champions League matches on Monday. 
Al Ain left it too late to share honours with hosts Esteghlal at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran but at home in Abu Dhabi, Al Wahda thrashed Iran's Zob Ahan 3-0 for their first win in four matches.
With the draw Al Ain are placed in third with four points and trail by two points to leaders Esteghlal and Qatari Al Rayan, who posted their first win in Group D when they edged out Saudi giants Al Hilal by the odd goal in three.
Al Ain fell behind in the 42nd minute when Ismail Ahmed committed a foul in the box. Mame Thiam converted the resultant penalty with a right-footed shot to put the home team ahead as the large partisan crowd jumped with joy. 
After coming close to scoring a number of times, Al Ain finally cancelled the Esteghlal lead in the 78th minute when Tsukasa Shiotani's right-footed shot from outside the box beat Seyed Hossein Hosseini under the Esteghlal bar after he was put through by Rayan Yslam Al Jaberi.
The aggressive Al Ain team picked up two warnings in the first half when Ahmed Barman Hammoudi and Khalid Eisa were handed yellow cards by the referee. Farshid Esmaeilli of Esteghlal also earned a yellow in the dying minute when Al Ain pressed hard for a winner.
Meanwhile, Al Wahda took a solitary goal lead before the teams crossed over in the capital but they added two more to thrash Zobahan.
Al Wahda started on the front foot as Batna's shot in the fourth minute went just wide off the left post. Zobahan responded through Seyed Hosseini whose shot was saved by goalkeeper Rashed Ali.
Sebastian Tagliabue put the home side in front in the dying moments of the first half, sweeping home from Balazs Dzsudzsak's deftly executed free-kick.
Just 12 minutes after the restart, Batna extended Al Wahda's lead as his curled shot from the edge of the box found the back of Zobahan's net, making it 2-0.
In the 65th minute, Mohamed Al Akbari rounded the scoring for the Emiratis after calmly converting Batna's ground cross. Al Wahda maintained composure and an organised defence until the referee blew the full time whistle.
Despite the win, Al Wahda remain in Group B's last spot with three points ahead of a trip to Tashkent to face Lokomotiv, while Zobahan stay second with six points and will face Al Duhail in Matchday Five.
sports@khaleejtimes.com

Group B Teams P W D L F A Pts Al Duhail 4 4 0 0 11 6 12 Zob Ahan 4 2 0 2 5 6 6 Lokomotiv  4 1 0 3 8 7 3 Al Wahda 4 1 0 3 5 10 3 Group D Esteghlal 4 1 3 0 6 5 6 Al Rayyan 4 1 3 0 6 5 6 Al Ain 4 0 4 0 4 4 4 Al Hilal 4 0 2 2 2 4 2