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Bani Yas enter knockout phase

Bani Yas qualified for the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League by defeating Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor at the Bani Yas Stadium on Wednesday night.

Watched by a crowd of 3,927, Bani Yas won their final Group B fixture 2-0. Andre Senghor put Bani Yas ahead as early as the 13^th minute and substitute Amer Abdulrahman got the second in the 72^nd minute.

Bani Yas finished second behind group toppers Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia. Bani Yas finished with 11 points.

Bani Yas dominated most of the game and should have won by a much bigger margin. They went ahead from the chance they got as early as the 13^th minute through Andre Senghor. Captain Fawzi Bashir sent in a fine long ball and Senghor chested it down and got past defender Nikolaev Aleksey before volleying it into goal.

They could have doubled the lead four minutes later but Nawaf Mubarak fired his freekick wide of the post after Francisco Yeste had been fouled.

Bani Yas had a flurry of opportunities going into the half hour but could not make it count. Mohamed Jaber’s header off a Yeste freekick from the left, lacked power, in the 25^th minute. Three minutes later, Senghor headed straight to the goalkeeperTemur Juraevafter a ball from Nawaf Mubarak from the left.

Later, in the 32^nd minute, Senghor played a one-two with Fawzi Bashir before taking a crack at goal but his attempt was blocked by the defence.

Pakhtakor had their lone chance in the 35^th minute but Irakli Klimiashvili’s shot aftera pass from the right hit the woodwork.

Bani Yas had another opportunity to double the lead at the stroke of half-time but the charging goalkeeper Temur Juraev did well to keep it out after Nawaf Mubarak had lofted the ball to Fareed Al Hammadi.

Pakhtakor pressed hard for the equaliser after the break and came close in the 53^rd minute but substitute Makhstaliev Abbosbek’s shot from the right was pushed away for a corner by goalkeeper Mohamed Khalaf. Khalaf was called in two minutes later and the goalkeeper did well to keep out Kakhi Makharadze’s shot from inside the box.

Senghor botched a brilliant opportunity in the 62^nd minute by firing it straight to the goalkeeper Temur Juraev after he had done well with a solo from the right.

But Bani Yas were not to be denied in the 72^nd minute as Yeste went on the counter with a brilliant solo from the right before passing it to an unmarked Amer Abdulrahman. Amer Abdulrahman calmly slotted it home from close range.

Teams:

Bani Yas: Mohamed Khalaf, Ismael Bouzid, Mohamed Fawzi, Andre Senghor, Fawzi Bashir ©, Fareed Al Hammadi, Nawaf Mubarak, Mohamed Jaber, Thamir Mohamed, Yousef Jaber, Francisco Yeste. Substitutes: Amer Abdulrahman, Haboosh Saleh, Saleh Hamad, Adnan Hussain, Ibrahim Jaber, Ibrahim Saeed Masoud, Mohammad Ali Ghuloom. Coach: Gabriel Calderon.

Pakhtakor: Kakhi Makharadze, Abdukholiqov Temurkhuja, Irakli Klimiashvili, Karimov Sherzodbek, Khashimov Davronbek Suyunov Ilhomjon, Stanislav Andreev, Kozak Vladimir, Temur Juraev, Nikolaev Aleksey, Kilichev Oybek. Substitutes: Lobanov Alexander, Alexandr Kletskov, Akmal Kholmuradov, Igor Sergeev, Azizov Alisher, Sharofetdinov Dilshod, Makhstaliev Abbosbek. Coach: Dejan Durdevic.

Referee: Abdul Malik Abdul Bashir.

james@khaleejtimes.com