Tabata fires Alsadd into ACL knockout stage Rodrigo Tabata struck 11 minutes from time to give Al Sadd a 2-1 win over Al Ahli on Tuesday which sent the 2011 winners through to the last 16 of the AFC Champions League at the expense of the United Arab Emirate league champions. Tabata sent a sublime chip from the edge of the box over the head of goalkeeper Ahmed Mahmoud as the Qatari side came from a goal down at the Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium to secure the victory. Grafite had fired the visitors ahead after 15 minutes but Khalfan Ibrahim levelled in the 34th minute to set up the dramatic finish as Al Sadd, who began the game at the bottom of Group D finished runners-up behind Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, who edged Iranian side Sepahan 1-0 in the other game. Al Ahli were unbeaten and at the top of the group at the start of play but they slipped to third and missed out yet again on the knockout rounds, having failed to advance in their previous four appearances in the competition. Al Sadd were looking to bounce back after conceding a total of nine goals in back-to-back losses against Al Hilal and Sepahan and they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening half as they sought the win which would take them into the knockout rounds. Mohammed Kasola saw his early header deflected over the crossbar while Lee Jung-soo headed wide from the resulting corner as Al Sadd went in search of an early goal. But when it did arrive, it was the visitors who opened the scoring. Ciel took the ball to the right byline and then sent it across the face of the goalmouth to the far post where Grafite arrived to neatly poke the ball past goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb into the opposite corner of the net. Hasan Al Haydos should have brought Al Sadd level in the 33rd minute when he was presented with a free header right in front of goal but he directed it straight into the arms of a relieved Ahmed Mahmoud. But the equaliser would arrive just a minute later as hesitant defending by the visitors allowed Tabata to take possession and charge towards the Al Ahli goal before slipping the ball through for Khalfan Ibrahim to poke the ball past Mahmoud. Abdelkarim Hassan missed a glorious opportunity shortly after that as his close-range effort hit a defender on the goalline. Al Sadd turned up the pressure after the interval as Al Ahli looked to soak up the pressure and hit the home side on the counterattack. But the deadlock was finally broken in the 78th minute when Tabata received the ball from Ibrahim on the edge of the Al Ahli box and sent a dipping shot over Manmoud and into the corner of the net to send the hosts through to the last 16.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 06:27:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015