Iran's Tractor FC run out of gas to exit Asian Champions League

Ten-man Tractor FC lost 3-0 to Shabab Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates to exit the Asian Champions League Elite on Tuesday as the underprepared Iranian champions laboured in the wake of the disruption caused by conflict with the United States and Israel.

The Tabriz-based outfit matched Paulo Sousa's team in the first half of the last 16 clash but a red card in the 52nd minute for goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand for a foul on Shabab Al Ahli's Iranian striker Sardar Azmoun was the turning point.

Yuri Cesar's 65th minute penalty put the Emirati outfit ahead before Saied Ezatolahi doubled the advantage 15 minutes later and Mateusao completed the win deep into stoppage time.

"Our team suffered because for 40 days we have been a long way from training," said Tractor coach Mohammad Ali Rabiei, whose side had not played competitively since the start of the Middle East conflict in late February.

"We managed our energy in the first half with our strategy and we created opportunities in the first half.

"After we went behind we did our best to come back, we played high risk football to score the equaliser but our opponents could use the space behind our defence and they could score more goals."

FABINHO SPOT-KICK TAKES AL-ITTIHAD INTO LAST EIGHT

Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad, meanwhile, booked their place in the next round with a contentious 1-0 win over Al-Wahda of the UAE thanks to a penalty by Fabinho deep into time added on at the end of extra time.

Referee Ilgiz Tantashev awarded the spot kick with more than 120 minutes on the clock when Abdulrahman Al-Obud was fouled and, after a lengthy delay, former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho converted.

The quarter-finals will begin on Thursday when Qatar's Al-Sadd take on Vissel Kobe from Japan.

Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad will play Machida Zelvia, also of Japan, on Friday, when defending champions Al-Ahli face Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim. Shabab Al-Ahli meet Buriram United from Thailand on Saturday.

Matches in the Round of 16 phase involving teams from the western side of the continent have been played as one-off encounters in Jeddah after the scheduled two-legged fixtures were postponed last month due to the Middle East conflict.

The quarter-finals, semis-finals and final are also being played in the Saudi Arabian city. The semis will be played on Monday and Tuesday while the final will be held on April 25.

(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Ken Ferris)