Dubai: Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic said his side only take a “small advantage” into the second leg of the Asian Champions League quarter-final at home to Qatar’s El Jaish on September 14 despite winning the first leg 3-0 on Wednesday.
Wanderley Santos scored twice on his debut netting two tap-ins at the end of each half either side of Jonathan Pitroipa’s effort just after the interval.
“Of course it was a good result for us after a very good game,” said the Serbian. “El Jaish also had some chances during the game but they couldn’t score. The difference was the times at which we scored the goals.
“Maybe we have a small advantage from today’s game, but in Dubai it will be very decisive as to who can go through to the semi-finals.
“We will play the second game at our home in the same way and we hope over the next 15 days we will prepare for an even better performance.”
Pitroipa broke forward and crossed to Santos on 45 minutes and then added a second 10 minutes later when Abdel Aziz Barrada teed him up for a shot on the edge of the area. Santos then wrapped things up with four minutes to spare after being found free in the box by Salem Saleh.
“The way we were thinking was to win the game,” added Jovanovic. “On the other hand, we didn’t expect to win 3-0. It was a very good result.
“But as I said, El Jaish are a very good team and we need to forget this result when we play in Dubai. The target of reaching the semi-final is huge; all of us will have to suffer to be there.”
El Jaish coach Sabri Lamouchi said that despite the defeat nothing was impossible in the second leg provided his side could regroup.
“I do not know what happened, we are really disappointed,” said the Frenchman. “Of course it is a very bad result at home. We started not so well, but after an hour we came back.
“We made a lot of mistakes and Al Nasr scored all of their opportunities. Maybe we had more opportunities but this is football.
“It was a very bad night, game and result. Nothing is impossible in football, but we must play with a different attitude and miss less.
“We have one chance, not more. About this chance, I need to see my team with a different attitude.”
Al Nasr were playing without suspended Jires Kembo Ekoko, while El Jaish’s new star signing Seydou Keita, formerly of Barcelona, came on as a half-time substitute and had a header cleared off the line by Ahmad Al Yassi on 90 minutes.
