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TEHRAN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Esteghlal defeated Qatar's Al Sadd in the Asian Club Championship play-off match on Tuesday and advanced to ACL group stage competitions.
In the match played in Tehran's Azadi Stadium, Al Sadd were beaten 4-3 in penalty shootout following goalless 120 minutes.
Esteghlal, the two-time ACL winners, pressed the Qatari side powerfully in 120 minutes of action, but they were not able to break the deadlock.
Al Sadd squandered two of their spot kicks, whereas Esteghlal's Omid Ebrahimi missed the second penalty of the shootout but the Iranian side converted the remaining spot kicks allowing substitute Khosro Heidari to slam home the winner and take the Iranians into Group A.
In the group stage, Esteghlal will play Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates, Uzbek side Lokomotiv and Saudi Arabia's Al Taawoun. Enditem
