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Persianleague
- Apr 05, 2002
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AsianFootball - Tehran: Iran's Esteghlal secured third place in the 21st Asian Club Championship on Friday 5-2 trouncing of Uzbekistan's Nasaf Karsi.

A pair of goals by Mohammad Navazi and an own goal by Bottir Karaev gave the Iranian side a 3-1 half-time lead. Faraz Fatemi and Mahdi Pashazadeh then struck in the second half to wrap up the victory and give Esteghlal fans at the Azadi Stadium some consolation after their semi-final loss to Korean side Anyang LG Cheetahs on Wednesday.

While pitch conditions at the Azadi Stadium were far from perfect, it was still significantly improved from Wednesday when the playing surface had been heavily waterlogged by torrential rain.

Esteghlal went on the attack straight from the kick off and found the back of the net after just two minutes when Navazi's shot from the right of the Nasaf penalty box was deflected into the net off the head of defender Bakhtiyor Namazov.

Despite constant Esteghlal pressure, Nasaf drew level on 13 minutes when Asror Aliqulov intercepted a pass in his own half and ran 30 yards before passing to Oybek Usmankhodjaev, who wrong-footed Namazov before chipping past Esteghlal goalkeeper Parviz Booroomand.

The home side regained the lead in bizarre circumstances six minutes later after Faraz Fatemi had forced an excellent save out of Nasaf goalkeeper Petr Gizimchuk in a one-on-one situation. The ball fell to Nasaf defender Karaev who had plenty of time to clear but contrived to slice the ball into his own net.

Things got worse for Karaev in the 26th minute when he conceded a penalty and received a yellow card for tugging the shirt of Farzad Majiji. Navazi, who missed a penalty in the semi-final against Anyang, slotted the ball to the right of Gizimchuk to make it 3-1.

Having dominated the first half with 14 shots on the Nasaf goal, the Iranian side found themselves on the defensive early in the second period as Zafar Kholmurodov pulled the Uzbeks within a goal with an outrageous piece of skill after 55 minutes.

With his back to the goal, Kholmurodov flicked the ball with his right outstep over the head of Booromond and into the Esteghlal net.

Nasaf poured forward in an effort to get the equaliser but were caught on the break in the 68th minute when Fatemi broke clear and sidestepped Gizimchuk before slotting home.

Esteghlal wrapped up the scoring four minutes from the end when Navazi's cross to the far post found Pashazadeh unmarked to head home.

"Esteghlal - Nasaf Karsi"  Photos 1,2,3,4,5,6