TEHERAN : Despite seeing his side fall to a 1-0 defeat to Esteghlal on Wednesday, Buriram United forward coach Goran Drulic was pleased with the performance of his players and confident that the Thai club can turn the AFC Champions League quarter-final tie around in the return leg.
Khosro Heydari, right, scored the winner for Iran champions Esteghlal in Teheran.
A fortunate early goal by Khosro Heydari proved decisive for the Iranian champions at the Azadi Stadium and the visitors can count themselves as unfortunate not to have salvaged something from the match after they dominated possession and were twice denied by goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati late on.
"It wasn't a bad game. We played really well and had a much better ball possession during the whole match but we were very unlucky to concede as early as the second minute," said Drulic.
"Usually when you fall behind shortly after the start, players will get stressed out and caught off guard, but we didn't panic and we maintained our mastery over the hosts. We also had some very good chances to level the match."
The result leaves the tie delicately poised ahead of the return match in Thailand and Drulic believes that Buriram will be able to get the job done at their home ground.
"We came to Teheran for a win but we lost the match and we have to return home empty-handed," said the Serbian. "But I am very optimistic for the return match and I feel we make it to the next round, since we have the potential to be among the last four.
"We outplayed Esteghlal on their home turf with our desired system and were looking forward to playing better back home in the second leg.
"I'm certain the fans watched a very good game this evening and they all enjoyed themselves, I'm pretty much sure the Thai supporters would watch the same quality game when we play at home on Sept 18."
In Guangzhou, midfielder Dario Conca put tournament favourites Guangzhou Evergrande of China on course for the semi-finals as he inspired a 2-0 win over Qatar's Lekhwiya.
Earlier Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab held J-League outfits Kashiwa Reysol to a 1-1 away draw.
In Sharayea, another Saudi side Al Ahli drew 1-1 with South Korean visitors FC Seoul.