Esteghlal’s Mame Thiam ACL Player of the Week
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A match-winning hat-trick from Esteghlal’s Mame Thiam in the 2018 AFC Champions League Round of 16, second leg against Zob Ahan has seen the Senegalese striker named as the Player of the Week.
Esteghlal went into Tuesday’s game against its Iranian rival a goal down from the first leg but Thiam leveled 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 percent, and scored a rating of 9.2.
Thiam’s goals have taken Esteghlal to a first quarter-final appearance since 2013 as he became only the fourth player 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.
Second in this week’s ranking is another player who shone in Tehran, Ahmad Nourollahi, whose stunning strike opened the scoring in Persepolis’s 2-1 victory over Al Jazira on Monday.
