Sepahan coach Jorvan Vieira rued their missed chances in the 2-0 defeat by Al Ittihad. (AFP)

ESFAHAN – Sepahan coach Jorvan Vieira praised his side for not giving up when they were reduced to 10 men in their 2-0 home defeat to Syria’s Al Ittihad although admitted that they lacked a cutting edge.

"We came with the intention of winning but unfortunately our strikers couldn't take their chances," said the Brazilian, who led the Iraq national team to the 2007 AFC Asian Cup title.

"Even though we played for 70 minutes with 10 men, we took the game to them."

Sepahan will hope that, like last season, when they lost to the United Arab Emirates' Al-Ain, a defeat in the group stages will not hinder their progress to the last eight.

"Luckily this is the group stage and it's not knockout," added Vieira.

"There's plenty of time left and we have lots of chances, though we have lost three crucial points here."

Meanwhile, Al Ittihad’s goal scorer Jesus Gomez has set his sights on a place in the quarter-finals after he helped his side to the shock win in Esfahan.

Gomez opened the scoring for the Syrians in the first half from a free-kick after Sepahan defender Mohsen Bengar was sent off before Abdul Fattah Alaga added another in the second period.

The result was all the more impressive considering Sepahan were beaten finalists in last year's AFC Champions League.

"I'm very happy to score against the best side in Asia," said the 23-year-old Gomez.

"We knew this would be a difficult match because Sepahan are one of the biggest teams on the continent but we've shown that we can beat the biggest sides.

"Our aim now is to reach the quarter finals."

Only the seven group winners will progress to the last eight and Gomez believes that Al Ittihad, their namesakes from Saudi Arabia and Sepahan are set to fight out a three-way battle for top spot.