TEHRAN – The Iranian football club Esteghlal gained a 2-0 victory over Al Rayyan of Qatar to advance to the next stage of AFC Champions League Elite™ 2024/25 on Tuesday.
Esteghlal’s win saw them finish in sixth spot on nine points with Al Rayyan a rung below and a point adrift. The result also pushed Persepolis into ninth spot, thus eliminating the Iranian side.
Results in the West Zone on Monday meant that Al Rayyan had already secured their place in the knockout stage prior to the match while Esteghlal only needed to avoid defeat to join the Qatari side in the Round of 16.
Esteghlal enjoyed a dream start to the second half as they took the lead just a minute in when Alireza Kooshki chased down the ball on the left and swung in a cross that was chested into goal by Mohammadreza Azadi, the-afc.com wrote.
Al Rayyan thought they had drawn level in the 65th minute but Guedes’ goal was cancelled for offside and they went further behind four minutes later as Kooshki weaved his way into the box before doubling Esteghlal’s advantage and taking them into the next round.
Before Tuesday match in the previous 9 meetings, Al Rayyan had won 1 times, Esteghlal had won 6 times, and 2 ended in a draw. Al Rayyan scored 7 goals and Esteghlal scored 22 goals in these matches, according to sports website.