Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Sharjah coach Abdulaziz Anbari was full of adulation for his team after a late resilience saw them salvage a draw against Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan in their AFC Champions League match on Friday.

Sharjah rallied to share the spoils with Pakhtaor as Mohammed Khalfan, assisted by Abdulaziz Salem, restored the parity for the hosts with just three minutes left after Eren Derdiyok had put the visitors ahead with an early strike.

Despite the draw, Sharjah remain on the top of their group with eight points with two victories and as many draws.

“It was a very tough game especially against a team like Pakhtakor, who enjoy possession,” said Anbari.

In their meeting also, it was Pakhtakor who kept the possession despite a brilliant performance by Sharjah, who routed them 4-1. Khalid Bawazir, Caio, Peirera and Salem Saleh all were on target in that game as Sharjah made light work of their Uzbek rivals.

“Our performance was a little affected by the fatigue of the last matches. We pressed really hard in that game. Some players were exhausted and their performance was below average. But in the end, I am satisfied with the result,” said Anbari.

“We were a little drained as we had put in a lot of hard work because of the fatigue from the last game. Moreover, we have been continuously playing for a long time.

“Our season is coming to an  end unlike that of Pakhtakor’s, who have just started theirs. So, it is but natural for players to feel tired,” explained Anbari.

Sharjah played without their key players, Igor Cornado and Al Hasan Saleh, in their first three games. As the duo were nursing injuries while Welliton has been completely ruled out, he was not even registered for the tourney after picking up an injury well ahead of the beginning of the tournament.

The absence of the key players brought more pressure on the others, who stepped up and filled in for the absentees as Sharjah notched up two victories and managed to salvage draws in two other games to remain unbeaten.

However, playing back to back matches seems to be taking its toll on the players. All the teams are playing one match every third day.

Matches have been crammed into a jam-packed calendar to make up for time which was lost due to the pandemic last years. The coronavirus had brought the whole world down on its knees. All the sporting events were either cancelled or postponed to safeguard the health of the athletes.

Anbari heaped praise on the substitutes Khalfan and Salem, who were engaged in the rescue act when the team needed them the most.

Khalfan equalised for Sharjah in the dying moments within two minutes of his arrival on the turf. He slotted home the equaliser off a low pass from other substitute Salem.

“I am delighted with the contribution of the substitute players. In important and tough tournaments like this, the entire squad is important.

“All the players have been training hard as they know they have to be ready to deliver when they are called up on. And they did exactly what is expected of them. I am pleased with their performance,” added an exalted Sharjah coach.

Meanwhile, Pakhtakor coach Peter Huistra rued missing a chance to notch up their first win of the tournament despite taking a lead and dominating the match.

“Today, we demonstrated what we are capable of. We can play good football. It is painful not winning the match despite dominating the game from the beginning to the end. I think we deserved a victory today,” said Huistra.

“We controlled the whole game and did not allow them to take chances. But they were lucky to capitalise on the only chance and hit the target,” rued the Pakhtakor coach.

“The way we played and executed out plans, it is unbelievable that we could not win. This has not been our tournament so far as we have faltered despite coming very near each time.

“But I am still hopeful of a turnaround in fortunes. We still have two games left and we have to win them to keep our hopes alive to advance to the Round of 16,” he added.

Pakhtakor are at the third spot in the Group B with three draws and one loss from their matches so far. While Air Force of Iraq have been eliminated after their latest loss against Tractor on Friday.