Doha: Al Sadd coach Houssain Ammouta hailed a deserved victory as the 2011 winners made a stylish return to the AFC Champions League on Wednesday after a two-year break with 3-1 win over Iran’ Sepahan in Group D. Former AFC Player of the Year Khalfan Ibrahim, Nadir Belhadj - who struck the decisive penalty as Al Sadd edged out Korea Republic’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the 2011 final – and Brazilian Rodrigo Tabata scored for Qatar champions Al Sadd at Sheik Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. Mehdi Sharifi did cancel out Ibrahim’s earlier opener with 12 minutes remaining for 2007 finalists Sepahan, but a pair of eye-catching late goals from Belhadj and Tabata made sure off all three points in the re-match of the 2011 quarter-final. “We deserved the victory because the players put a lot of effort in the match and they achieved an important victory in our first match in the competition,” said Al Sadd coach Ammouta. “We went into the match with big ambitions and our target was to get the three points and we achieved our aim. “We put a lot of pressure on our opponents in their own half and we tried our best not to make big mistakes. “The players followed our instructions and this helped us to achieve and important and win against a strong team.”