Goalless draw puts Guangzhou and Ahli to Tianhe decider

The 2013 champions Guangzhou Evergrande of China step closer to their second title after a goalless draw with UAE's powerhouse Al Ahli in the first leg of AFC Champions League finals here on Saturday, leaving the second leg in Guangzhou's Tianhe stadium two weeks later a real title decider.

Paulinho, Zheng Zhi and Huang Bowen had chances to give Guangzhou a lead, but their efforts were denied by the woodwork and Ahli's keeper Ahmed Mahmoud.

Ahli's full-back Abdulaziz Haikal was sent off by the referee after pushing Gao Lin down to the grass in the 84th minute, but it didn't give Guangzhou enough time to covert the advantage to a goal.

"It is a fair result, both teams had chances to score but both did not score and the second leg in Guangzhou will," said Guangzhou coach Luiz Scolari at the post-match press conference.

The nil-all away draw is not unacceptable for Guangzhou, but the real trouble for Scolari will be the injury of Ricardo Goulart, the leading scorer of the tournament.

The Brazilian was forced to be off the pitch after receiving a tackle from back side by Hassan Abdularahman, but the referee said no foul.

"Goulart's ankle was badly swelled, I think it will be very difficult for him to play in the second leg," Scolari said.

The 26-year-old Brazilian scored eight goals to lead the best strikers' list and he is the only one who played all 13 Champions League matches for Guangzhou.

But Ahli's coach Cosmin Olaroiu said lossing Goulart will not be a big advantage for his team in the second leg.

"Guangzhou also have some good strikers, like Gao Lin and Yu Hanchao," Olaroiu said. Endi