Playing with 10 Men against Esteghlal Is Hard: Aleksandar Ilic
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Al-Shorta coach Aleksandar Ilic said that playing with 10 men against strong Esteghlal is very hard.
Al-Shorta lost to the Iranian giant 3-0 on Matchday 2 of the 2021 AFC Champions League Group C early Monday.
Hussam Kadhim was shown a red card just 11 minutes into the match after violent foul on Farshid Esmaeili.
Al-Shorta head coach Aleksandar Ilic said that playing with a man less made the match very challenging for his team which eventually led to the defeat, but the Serbian remained hopeful of their chances.
“We had a good start but we were affected mainly by the red card,” said Ilic. “Playing with 10 men made things harder for us and that was main reason behind this defeat.”
“When you defend for 90 minutes, you will eventually make mistakes, especially when playing against a strong team like Esteghlal who have great qualities,” added the 51-year-old coach.
“We still have a chance in the competition and we must recover from the two defeats. We had difficult times in the past but now we must focus and compete in order to maintain our chances,” Ilic stated.
