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 teammate, 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.