Dubai: Al Shabab coach Caio Junior was left to rue missed opportunities in the 2-0 loss to Uzbek side Bunyodkor in their AFC Champions League play-off in Tashkent late on Tuesday.
Eldor Shomurodov opened the scoring in the second minute and then added a second in the 35th minute to ensure Sergey Lushchan’s team advanced to the main stages of the competition.
Al Shabab came close five minutes from half-time when Mahmoud Qasim shot over from 25 yards. The side then regrouped well in the second-half and their best opportunity came midway through the period, when Henrique Luvannor’s attempt rolled off goalkeeper Murotjon Zukhrov to the feet of Juninho, but the Brazilian blasted over.
Bunyodkor now join Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia), Zobahan (Iran) and Lekhwiya (Qatar) in Group B of the main rounds.
“That first goal made things difficult for us,” Caio Junior admitted at his post-match press conference.
“After the early goal we had our backs against the wall while Bunyodkor had to defend and catch us on the counter. We played well in the second-half, and had we scored from that chance we got, things could have been completely different,” he added.
Bunyodkor coach Sergey Lushchan was pleased with the way his team soaked up the pressure, especially in the second-half. “This is what we had planned and I compliment my players for sticking to the plan. We made mistakes, but we also stuck together as a team and corrected these mistakes before any harm had been done,” Lushchan said.
“Now that we have gone past the first hurdle we will try and go all the way and win the Champions League,” he added optimistically.
