Rodrigo Tabata bagged a brace and set up another as Al Rayyan moved to the top of Group D in the 2017 AFC Champions League following a 3-1 victory over Persepolis at Al Sadd Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Mehdi Taremi opened the scoring for the iranian side on six minutes with his third goal in two games after being played in by a delightful Mohsen Mosalman pass, Al Rayyan found parity on the nineteenth minute level after 19 minutes when Tabata found space for himself in the box and fired low into the back of the net for his second of the continental campaign.
 
On the hour mark, Al Rayyan’s captain put his side 2-1 by confidently dispatching from the spot after Jalal Hosseini upended Sebastian Soria in the box. Michael Laudrup’s side rounded off the win with Tabata delivering a pinpoint free-kick for Spanish striker Sergio Garcia to volley home a third two minutes from time.

The win sees Al Rayyan leapfrog their opponents and Al Hilal to the top of the standings after the Saudi Arabian side drew 2-2 with Al Wahda in Tuesday’s other Group D encounter.