Iraq’s Al Shorta stun former winners Al Ahli in Asian Champions League

Al Shorta took a giant step toward qualifying for the Asian Champions League round of 16 with their first-ever victory in the tournament with a 2-1 shock win against Al Ahli. (@AlShorta_SC)

• The victory gave them four points in as many matches
• This means they require just one point from their next match against Esteghlal of Iran to progress to the knockout stage from Group A

DOHA: Al Shorta took a giant step toward qualifying for the Asian Champions League round of 16 with their first-ever victory in the tournament with a 2-1 shock win against Al Ahli on Thursday.
The most successful club side in Iraq, stunned the Saudis at the rebuilt Khalifa International Stadium, one of the venues for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The victory gave them four points in as many matches which means they require just one point from their next match against Esteghlal of Iran to progress to the knockout stage from Group A.
Al Ahli had become the first team to make the cut on Monday, their cause helped by the fact that the UAE’s Al Wahda were considered withdrawn from the tournament after several of their players tested positive for COVID-19.
Al Shorta shot to prominence in the Arab world in 1971 when they reached the final of the Asian Champion Club Tournament against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Bangkok but refused to play the match in protest over Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
They arrived to a rousing welcome in Baghdad and became part of Arab folklore but thereafter couldn’t make much of an impression when the Asian Champion Club Tournament was rebranded as the Asian Club Championship in 1985 and again as the Asian Champions League in 2002.
On Thursday, it was Al Shorta who opened their account first as Saad Natiq produced a powerful header in the 14th minute off a fine Ali Fayez cross to completely fox the Al Ahli goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais.
Both teams enjoyed short spells of domination and Al Ahli got the equalizer in the 56th minute with their sustained pressure paying off.
Mohamed Al-Majhad collected a measured pass from Marko Marin, got past the Al Shorta defense and fired the ball low past goalkeeper Ahmed Basil in the 56th minute.
But it didn’t take much time for Al Shorta to regain composure and sure enough they went ahead again in the 65th minute with Mazin Fayyadh making the most of a low cross from Kudhur Ali on the right flank.
In Group B on Thursday, substitute Pedro Conde struck in the 83rd minute to help the UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli beat Iran’s Shahr Khodro 1-0.
Shahr Khodro had lost to Shabab by a similar margin on Monday and with Thursday’s defeat stand eliminated from the tournament with no points from four matches.