Shabab Al Ahli ease past Tractor to reach ACL Elite quarter-finals

Shabab Al Ahli booked their place in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite 2026 on Tuesday with a 3-0 win over 10-man Tractor FC from Iran to set up a clash with Japan’s Machida Zelvia.

Alireza Beiranvand’s 52nd minute sending off for a foul on Sardar Azmoun turned the game in favour of Paulo Souza’s Emirati side with Yuri Cesar scoring from the penalty spot 13 minutes later before Saeid Ezatolahi doubled the lead 10 minutes from time.

Mateusao put the seal on Shabab Al Ahli’s victory with his side’s third eight minutes into stoppage time.

The win takes the side from Dubai into the last eight for the first time since 2015 and Souza’s team will meet the reigning Emperor’s Cup holders at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on Friday.

Shabab Al Ahli took the initiative early in the game, with Kauan Santos poking an attempt through to Beiranvand while Cesar threatening in the 14th minute when he latched onto Azmoun’s through ball, only for the goalkeeper to do enough to deny the winger.

Sultan Adil’s header looped over the bar seven minutes later for the Emirati side while Mehdi Hashemnezhad had a first sight of goal for Tractor, turning to pull his shot from the edge of the area wide of Hamad Al Meqbali’s left post.

Guilhereme Bala’s strike at the end of a flowing move by Shabab Al Ahli in the 25th minute was gathered by Beiranvand, who needed a second attempt to collect a free kick from distance by Cesar moments later.

Soon after the half hour mark, Tractor were inches away from the opener, Tibor Halilovic sending a right-foot strike from outside the area trundling wide of Al Meqbali’s right post with the goalkeeper beaten. Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh then shot over the bar.

Hosseinzadeh went closer still in the dying moments of the half as Tractor finished on top, forcing Al Meqbali into a diving save to his right after being found on the edge of the Shabab Al Ahli penalty area by Domagoj Drozdek’s pull-back.

Seven minutes into the second half, Tractor were reduced to 10 men. Azmoun was released into space and Beiranvand raced out to challenge his international team mate, only to clip the forward’s trailing leg. Referee Yusuke Araki did not hesitate to show the red card.

Santos’ resulting free kick was easily gathered by substitute goalkeeper Marko Johansson while Cesar blazed his attempt over the bar moments later but Araki was called to the pitch-side monitor by VAR officials for an infringement during the build-up.

Upon review, the Japanese official pointed to the penalty spot as a result of Shojae Khalilzadeh’s flailing arm striking Adil in the face and Cesar coolly stroked his penalty past Johansson, sending the Swede the wrong way.

Ezatolahi doubled his side’s lead in the 80th minute when he slotted Mohammed Juma’s cut-back beyond Johansson and Bala could have hit a third, only for his late effort to ricochet off the post, but Mateusao did convert with a assured finish into the corner in the dying seconds.

Title holders Al Ahli squeezed into the last eight of the Asian Champions League Elite on Monday when Riyad Mahrez’s 117th minute free kick secured a 1-0 win over Qatar’s Al Duhail as four-times winners Al Hilal exited on penalties against Al-Sadd.

Mahrez bent home a stunning free kick to defeat the spirited Qataris, who had seen goalkeeper Salah Zakaria save a penalty from Ivan Toney late in the first half of extra time at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

“It was a difficult game, I don’t think we played very good,” said Mahrez. “That’s why we went to extra time.

“They’re a good team, Al Duhail, but at the end we made it on a free kick and we’re happy to go through.”

AL HILAL ELIMINATED: Al Hilal were knocked out at the end of an enthralling clash with Al-Sadd that ended in a 3-3 draw before Qataris prevailed 4-2 in a shoot-out as Roberto Mancini won his coaching battle with fellow Italian Simone Inzaghi.

Al-Sadd fought back to level three times during regulation time, the first coming after Sergey Milinkovic-Savic had put Al-Hilal in front in the 29th minute only for Claudinho’s dinked finish over Yassine Bounou to equalise seven minutes later.