Best Goal for Persepolis, Best Player in Esteghlal

The AFC has announced that Persepolis’ Ahmad Nourollahi is the winner of this week’s Goal of the Week presented by Allianz in the second leg of the 2018 AFC Champions League Round of 16 after over 650,000 votes were received, the biggest yet on the AFC official website.

With 352,656 votes from the total, his goal was named as the best goal of the return leg of the round of 16 in the tournament, the AFC reported.

Nourollahi, whose stunning strike opened the scoring in Persepolis’s 2-1 victory over Al Jazira of the UAE on Monday, was also the second best player of the week.

With Persepolis trailing 3-2 from the first leg and the game well into the second half, Nourollahi turned 25 yards from goal and fired in an unstoppable shot to send fans at Azadi Stadium into raptures, before the Tehran side eventually advanced on away goals.

In a fine all round performance, the midfielder made 57 passes with 89.5% accuracy and created four chances for his teammates, gaining a rating of 8.8 as Persepolis qualified for the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League for the second successive year.

 Thiam, Player of Week

Senegalese forward of Esteghlal Mame Baba Thiam was chosen as the best player of the week.

A match-winning hat-trick from Thiam in the AFC Champions League Round of 16, second leg against Zobahan has seen the Senegalese striker named as the Toyota Player of the Week.

Esteghlal went into Tuesday’s game against compatriot rival a goal down from the first leg but Thiam leveled the proceedings with an early penalty, before curling in a fabulous effort from distance shortly before half time.

Midway through the second half, the forward side-footed home his third in what was ultimately the contest’s deciding goal, his seventh of the campaign. Thiam got all four of his shots on target, posting a conversion rate of 75% and scored a rating of 9.2.

Thiam’s goals have taken Esteghlal to the first quarterfinal appearance since 2013 as he became only the fourth player of this campaign to net three or more goals in a game, after Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors duo Adriano and Kim Shin-wook and Guangzhou Evergrande’s Ricardo Goulart.

In the tally for the best goal of the week, the second highest vote was for a Thiam goal to Zobahan at Azadi Stadium in Tehran with over 300,000 votes.

The draw for the quarterfinals will be held on May 23. In the quarterfinals, the four teams from the West Region play in two ties, and the four teams from the East Region play in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw, without any seeding or country protection.