AFC Champions League Elite:
10-man Tractor leaves it late to salvage point against Neftchi
Persian Gulf Pro League club Tractor came from behind twice to share the spoils with Uzbekistan’s PFC Neftchi in a 2-2 draw in the AFC Champions League Elite in Muscat, Oman, on Monday.
Both sides scored dramatically in second-half stoppage time as the Iranian top-flight side extended its winless start to the league stage to four games, leaving it 13th in the 16-team West Zone table with two points.
Neftchi started on the front foot at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, which served as the Iranian side’s home venue, and went close to finding the net as early as the fifth minute, only to see Tractor goalkeeper Parsa Jafari pull off a heroic double save to deny Asilbek Jumaev and Markus Forss.
Neftchi kept knocking on the door to no avail as the first half ended goalless, before the Uzbek club found a deserved breakthrough 10 minutes after the break, when substitute Stipe Perica tapped home Abrorbek Ismoilov’s low cross from close range.
Things went from bad to worse for Tractor six minutes later, with Farshad Faraji sent off for a high-foot challenge that struck Bojan Ciger in the face.
Neftchi went looking for a second goal to kill off the contest, but it was the Iranian club that found an equalizer against the run of play with eight minutes remaining, as Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh broke away from two markers before laying the ball off for Tomislav Strkalj to dink over goalkeeper Botirali Ergashev.
Neftchi retook the lead in the fourth minute of stoppage time through a Vladimir Jovovic screamer from range, but Tractor refused to concede defeat, with Masoud Zaerkazemayn restoring parity five minutes later to bring a dramatic end to an absorbing contest.
“We didn’t have a good start to the match, so we quickly changed our system and managed to take control of the game,” said Tractor head coach Javad Nekounam. “We finished the first half in a good position, and we knew that our team would definitely improve in the second half, and we did.
“Unfortunately, just as we were playing better, we conceded a rather bizarre goal. It was really difficult for us and for the team to deal with. We had been playing well, but unfortunately, we conceded. Shortly afterwards, we also lost one of our players to a sending-off.
“Nevertheless, both the players and I believed that we could achieve a positive result today. We came back into the game twice, despite playing with 10 men under difficult circumstances. It was a tough match, and we had fallen behind, but we managed to fight our way back,” added the Iranian coach.
Tractor will look to end its winless run when it takes on the UAE’s Al Wasl in Muscat on November 23.