up Al-Ittihad failed to qualify to the next stage of the AFC Champions League after losing to Zobahan of Iran 0-1 at Foolad Shahr Stadium Wednesday. With the same result, Ahli also lost its final encounter against its guest Al-Gharafa of Qatar at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. With eight points, Ittihad concluded its Group B matches and leave the competition along with city rival Al-Ahli (Group A) whose six points could not help the team move forward. Uzbek side Bunyodkor took the runners-up spot with a 4-1 win over Al-Wahda of UAE. In Esfahan, Zobahan's striker Mohammad Khalatbari did not only kick the twice ACL champion out, but also put Zobahan on top of its group with 13 points. Ittihad players lost several chances to score, especially in the first half as Saud Kariri and Sultan Al-Numari misfired. In the second half, the Iranians dominated and applied pressure. In the 54th minute, Khalatbari succeeded to take advantage of an Ittihad defense mistake to kick strongly into Mabrouk Za'id's goal. A last minute free kick by skipper Mohammed Noor marked the end of hope of the 2004 and 2005 Asian title holder. Al-Ahli continued its poor performance in the competition and failed to please its fans as Gharafa won 1-0. Gharafa striker Kamil Mubarak gave his team a late winner in the first minute of the stoppage time. The match was so boring that the supporters started to leave the stadium early. Elsewhere, Japanese powerhouse Kashima Antlers earned the honor of being the only team to win all six of their group games while Beijing Guoan booked a berth in the round of 16. Kashima beat Korea's Jeonbuk Motors 2-1 with their dominant run, securing them top spot in Group F and home advantage in the one-leg knockout stage against defending champions Pohang Steelers. That match will be a family affair, with Kashima coach Oswaldo Oliveira's younger brother Waldermar Lemos de Oliveira at the helm of Pohang. In the group's other match, Indonesia's Persipura Jayapura bagged its first points of the tournament when it beat a lackluster Changchun Yatai of China 2-0 with goals from Eduard Ivakdalam and Yustinus Paew. Korean outfit Seongnam Ilhwa had already secured home advantage for the round of 16 on May 11 and 12 before it kicked a ball but refused to relax, grinding out a 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory. Chinese Super League champions Beijing Guoan grabbed the east zone's eighth and final spot in the knockout round with a 2-0 win against Japan's Kawasaki Frontale. Beijing finish second behind Seongnam in Group E with goals either side of half-time by Australian Joel Griffiths and Brazilian Valdo making them the first Chinese club to qualify since 2008. __
