Spertsyan’s assist helps Al-Ahli beat Al-Gharafa in the AFC Champions League

Al-Ahli defeated Qatar’s Al-Gharafa 2-1 on Matchday 3 of the AFC Champions League. Armenia midfielder Eduard Spertsyan provided an assist as the defending champions secured a late victory.

Spertsyan set up Ivan Toney to open the scoring in the fourth minute. Florinel Coman equalised in the 53rd minute, but Al-Ahli had the final say: Matheus Gonçalves scored the winner in the 86th minute.

After three matches, Al-Ahli have seven points and sit second in the standings behind Al-Ain.

Spertsyan played 64 minutes and received a 6.7 rating from Sofascore. In addition to his assist, the Armenian midfielder registered three key passes and completed two accurate crosses.

Speaking after the match, Spertsyan said the team could have made better use of their opportunities:

“It was a really difficult match. We started very well and managed to score early. But we did not play as well as we should have: we created chances, yet missed many of them. I think that was our mistake.

Despite that, we showed character and mental resilience, which helped us secure the victory. Winning in front of our fans is very important right now. A big thank you to them for their support.”

Discussing the team’s ambitions, Spertsyan stressed that Al-Ahli’s main objective remains retaining the title and winning the competition for a third time.

Eduard Spertsyan’s match statistics:

• Shots — 1; expected goals (xG) — 0.17.

• Big chances missed — 1.

• Assists — 1.

• Big chances created — 1.

• Key passes — 3; expected assists (xA) — 0.55.

• Accurate crosses — 2 out of 2.

• Accurate passes — 28 (76%).

• Fouls won — 1.

• Ball recoveries — 1.

• Duels won — 1 out of 6.

• Possession lost — 15.

• Sofascore rating — 6.7.