Ittihad wins, Nasr loses in AFC Champions League

Two-time AFC Champions League winners Al Ittihad kept their 2016 campaign alive as two goals from Abdulrahman Al Ghamdi helped steer the club to a 4-0 victory over former finalists Sepahan on Wednesday. The defeat meant the Iranian side, runners-up to Urawa Reds in 2007, cannot advance to the last 16 of the competition while Al Ittihad moved to within two points of second-placed Al Nasr with only one round of Group A matches remaining. Muscat Zobahan guaranteed themselves top spot in Group B and a place in the knockout phase of the 2016 AFC Champions League on Wednesday when a brace by Ehsan Pahlavan either side of a strike by Kaveh Rezaei sealed a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr. The three points secured by Yahya Golmohammadi’s side mean the Iranians will win the group ahead of Qatar’s Lekhwiya while the result also means Al Nassr are eliminated from the competition. In other games Al-Nasr of the United Arab Emirates drew 1-1 with Lokomotiv Tashkent of Uzbekistan, while Qatari Lekhwiya beat Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan 2-0.