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Sports 28/05/2009 Uzbek clubs win away to make ACL quarters
AFC Champions League logo
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbekistan clubs Bunyodkor and Pakhtakor overcame favored hosts to reach the Asian Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Bunyodkor beat Piroozi Athletic 1-0 in Tehran to make the last eight for the second straight year, while Pakhtakor handed Saudi Arabia’s Ettifaq it’s first home loss in the competition by 2-1 in injury time.

Two-time champion Al Ittihad was the only one of four Saudi clubs to advance from the last 16, and the only home side to win in the four Middle East matches when it beat fellow Saudi side Al Shabab 2-1.

On Tuesday, Qatar’s Umm-Salal eliminated Al Hilal in a penalty shootout.

Rivaldo’s first-half penalty won it for Bunyodkor, a semifinalist last year.

He was fouled by Piroozi’s Nabiollah Bagheriha and converted the spot kick four minutes before halftime.

Bunyodkor goalie Murotjon Zukhurov made a flashy dive to palm away Bagheriha’s header just before halftime, but it was one of Piroozi’s few chances in a match dominated by Bunyodkor, the Uzbek champion which was undefeated in its home league.

Afterward, Piroozi coach Nelo Vingada, a Portuguese, said it was his last match in charge, as he’d resigned two days earlier.

Pakhtakor and Ettifaq seemed headed for extra time at 1-1 until Alexander Geynrikh’s free kick in injury time flew into a top corner past diving Ettifaq ’keeper Hussain Shaian.

Ettifaq controlled the first half but rewarded itself only with Prince Tagoe’s 33rd-minute low strike. Pakhtakor took over in the second, and Zaynitdin Tadjiyev nailed the equalizer 11 minutes from the end when he burst into the area, beat a defender and fired over Shaian.

Al Ittihad also won in injury time, when substitute striker Hicham Aboucherouane deflected in Naif Hazazi’s setup pass for the 2-1 winner against Al Shabab.

Al Shabab had humbled Al Ittihad 4-0 in the King’s Cup final two weeks ago, and scored first on Wednesday at Jeddah when Abdulaziz bin Saran stole the ball from Al Ittihad goalie Mabrouk Zaid and sent it into an empty net after 17 minutes.

Tall defender Osama Al Harbi headed in the tying goal in the 33rd off a right cross from captain Mohammed Noor.

Noor was involved in the winner three minutes into second-half stoppage time, feeding Hazazi who beat a defender for Aboucherouane, back from injury during the King’s Cup final, to surge into the box and finish in style.

The East half of the draw doesn’t play until June 24, when it will be Nagoya Grampus (Japan) vs. Suwon Samsung Bluewings (South Korea), Gamba Osaka (Japan) vs. Kawasaki Frontale (Japan), Kashima Antlers (Japan) vs. FC Seoul (South Korea), and Pohang Steelers (South Korea) vs. Newcastle Jets (Australia).

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