Esteghlal beat Al-Gharafa 2-1 in AFC Champions League Elite

Esteghlal beat hosts Al-Gharafa 2-1 in the match that brought the two sides together in the second round of the league stage of the AFC Champions League Elite for the 2026/27 season, held at 21:15 Damascus time.

Jasir Asani opened the scoring for Esteghlal in the 37th minute, before Ferjani Sassi equalised for Al-Gharafa in the 48th minute at the start of the second half. Hossein Goudarzi restored Esteghlal's lead by scoring the second goal in the 60th minute, sealing the result of the match.

Hossein Goudarzi was named man of the match, after scoring a goal and playing the full 90 minutes with a rating of 8.09.

In terms of statistics, Al-Gharafa had a lower share of possession than their opponents, with 45 per cent compared to 55 per cent for Esteghlal, while Al-Gharafa had 19 shots compared to 10 for Esteghlal, including 9 shots on target for Al-Gharafa against just 3 for Esteghlal. Al-Gharafa also had 9 corners compared to 5 for Esteghlal, while Esteghlal committed 14 fouls compared to 9 for Al-Gharafa, and their players received 3 yellow cards with no red cards shown to either team.

The match was officiated by referee Alexander King, and was broadcast on beIN Sports.

With this result, Esteghlal raised their tally to 3 points to sit in fourth place in the West region, having scored 3 goals and conceded none, while Al-Gharafa remain without points in twelfth place after this defeat, having scored one goal and conceded two.