Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic insists his players still “have to suffer” if they are to reach the AFC Champions League’s last-four for the first time despite securing an incredible 3-0 away win at El Jaish.
A brace from summer-buy Wanderley on debut and an excellent skimming drive from Jonathan Pitroipa in Doha ensured the knockout stage debutants are redhot favourites to proceed when the teams reconvene on September 14.
Despite this incredible start to the new season, boss Jovanovic preached that his charges must keep pushing at Al Maktoum Stadium regardless of their three-goal advantage.
He said: “The problem with playing in the quarter-final is the timing, you have to face many elements as you do not know everything about your team.
“It is very difficult for both teams to understand where they are with their performance as there are no official games before this. On the other hand, the target of reaching the semi-final is huge. All of us will have to suffer to be there.”
In front of a sparsely-attended Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium which contained far fewer fans than the official figure of 5,120, the Blue Wave excelled from the off.
FT: El-Jaish 0-3 Al-Nasr.
— Ahdaaf (@ahdaafme) August 24, 2016
Domination from the #UAE side. Fully deserved. #ACL2016
Wanderley first tapped into an open goal just before half-time, with Pitroipa slotting into the bottom corner prior to the hour mark. The former-mentioned summer addition from Sharjah then stroked home from close range to send the travelling ‘Nasrawy’ and technical staff into dreamland on 85 minutes.
“Of course it was a very good result for us after a very good game,” added Jovanovic, who previously led Cypriot minnows APOEL into the same stage of the UEFA Champions League. “El Jaish also during the game had some chances but they couldn’t score a goal. But the difference in the game was the time in which we scored the goals.
“It was a difficult game for both teams in very difficult weather conditions. What was most difficult was keeping a good pace throughout the whole game.
“Maybe we have a small advantage from the game. But in Dubai, it will be very decisive for who can go through into the semi-finals. We will face the second game in our home in the same way and we hope during this 15 days we will prepare for an even-better performance.”
Opposite number Sabri Lamouchi was understandably crestfallen during his post-match press conference. This was a huge blow after dominating Group B and blitzing neighbours Lekhiwya in the round of 16.
“I do not know what happened,” the ex-France midfielder said. “We are really disappointed.
“Of course, it is a very-bad result at home. We started not so good, but after half an hour we came back.
“We missed a lot in both halves. Not just the positioning, but a lot of mistakes.
“Nasr scored all their opportunities. We had maybe more opportunities, but this is football.
“It was a very-bad night, game and result. Nothing is impossible in football, but honestly it will not be easy. “We must play with a different attitude and miss less.”
