The "King" maintained its chances of qualifying after consolidating the lead with the 8th point

Al-Anbari: I did not ask Sharjah's players to defend only ... a draw is better than a defeat

Sharjah tied with Pakhtakor in the fourth round minutes before the end of the match.

Photography: Osama Abu Ghanem

Sharjah striker, Muhammad Khalfan, saved his team from a 1-0 loss to Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan, the day before yesterday, after he managed to score the equalizing goal in the 86th minute, minutes before the end of normal time, within the fourth round of the second group matches in the group stage of the AFC Champions League , Sharjah reap a valuable point after it was close to the first loss.

Despite the tie, Sharjah maintained the top of the group with eight points, two points behind its closest competitor, the Iranian Tractor, who raised its tally to six points, after winning with a clean goal over the Iraqi Air Force, while Pakhtakor raised its tally to three points in third place, and remained strong. Fourth, with only two points.

The coach of Sharjah, Abdulaziz Al-Anbari, denied in the press conference that he asked the players to defend only, but stressed that they were affected by the effort they made in the third round match against the same team, and when they won the fourth, and continued: “The result is good under the current circumstances of the team. "In my estimation, a draw is a positive result, because it is better than defeat."

In response to a question whether players were asked to focus on defense rather than initiating an attack during the match, he confirmed that he asked them to play in a balanced manner.

Sharjah has more than one scenario to win the qualification card for the second round, including winning in its next two matches, against the Iranian Tractor and the Iraqi Air Force, respectively, and collecting the six points, raising its score to 14 points and qualifying directly without the need to be served by the results of other teams, or Winning one game and drawing in the other on condition that the Iranian team falter.

Sharjah suffered in this match a lack of focus and good organization, and some players seemed tired and exhausted, due to the pressure of matches and continuous play, after they had played four matches in less than 10 days.

Although the match was heading in favor of the Uzbek team, which advanced with the first goal in the 59th minute, through its player Irene Derdyuk, the changes made by Abdulaziz Al-Anbari in the second half, with the entry of Saif Rashid and Igor Kornado, in his first appearance in this tournament, and the rising striker Muhammad Khalfan, who scored the equalizer against the Uzbek team, turned the scales in favor of Sharjah, and brought him back to the championship atmosphere again.

Regarding the way he will play against Tractor, Al-Anbari said that he will take an opportunity to think about the way to confront the Iranian team, especially with the return of a number of injured people, including Igor duo and defender Hassan Saleh.

For his part, Pakhtakor coach, Peter Hoster, confirmed at the press conference that the way the assistant referee acted when Sharjah scored the equalizer, through substitute Muhammad Khalfan, that confused his players, after the defense players stopped playing.

He indicated that his team is sticking to its chances of qualifying, despite the difficulty of the next two matches.

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