Al-Sadd lose out on ACL ticket in the Emirati capital
Al-Sadd lose out on ACL ticket in the Emirati capital
09 Feb 2016
Al-Sadd SC football first team bid farewell to the 2016 AFC Champions League after losing to Al-Jazira on penalties in the playoff match held on Tuesday at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Hamza Al-Sanhaji gave Al-Sadd the lead in the 22nd minute only for Kenwyne Jones to equalize for Al-Jazira at the stroke of halftime. In the second half, Ali Mabkhout put Al-Jazira in the lead with a goal in the 65th minute before Al-Sanhaji scored his second of the night to equalize two minutes before the end of normal time. In the 93rd minute, Khalfan Ibrahim missed a penalty, sending both teams into extra time with the score at 2-2. Both halves of extra time finished goalless and the match then moved on to penalties.
Hassan Al-Haydos, Pedro Correia, Nadir Belhadj and Abdelkarim Hassan were on target for Al-Sadd while Xavi, Morteza Pouraliganji and Al-Sanhaji missed their kicks.
As for Al-Jazira, Ali Mabkhout, Fares Jumuah, Sultan Saeed, Park Jong Woo and Abdullah Mousa scored their penalties while Salem Rashed and Thiago Neves missed.
Exciting start, Al-Sadd the better side
Al-Jazira began the match in spirited fashion, spurred on by the home support and early on, Thiago Neves sent in a cross from the left which was cleared by the Al-Sadd defence and sent out. Al-Sadd replied quickly through an attack of their own in the 9th minute, with Nadir Belhadj taking a shot but the ball deflected off a defender and went out for a corner. Abdelkarim Hassan then had a shot from outside the box which was kept out by the Jazira keeper Ali Khaseif. In the 15th minute, Hamza al-Sanhaji dribbled past a couple of players and penetrated into the box but his shot was saved by Khaseif in the final moment.
Al-Sanhaji gives Al-Sadd the lead
In the 22nd minute, the Wolves took the lead through Al-Sanhaji who latched on to a misplaced back pass from Khaled Sabil and scored past Khaseif to make it 1-0 to Al-Sadd. A few minutes later, he was denied a second goal when he headed an excellent Belhadj cross onto the post.
Saddawi control, Gaser replaces Ali Asad
The match continued under Saddawi control with a balanced approach between defence and offence from the Al-Sadd players. In the 39th minute, Saad Al-Dosari in the Al-Sadd goal kept out a shot from Thiago Neves from inside the box. Two minutes before halftime, Al-Sadd made their first change with Gaser Yahya coming on in place of an injured Ali Asad.
Jones strikes the equalizer for Al-Jazira
Just as the match was heading for halftime, Al-Jazira equalized. Striker Kenwyne Jones got his head to a cross from Neves and scored past Al-Dosari to make it 1-1 as the teams went into the tunnel.
Al-Jazira attack in the second half
Al-Jazira put pressure on the Al-Sadd defence from the beginning of the second half and Mabkhout had the ball in the net again in the 47th minute but his effort was ruled out for offside. Three minutes later, he had another powerful effort which went wide of the right post. Al-Sadd then made their second substitution with the exit of Talal Al-Baloushi in the 51st minute and Khalfan Ibrahim taking his place.
Competitive football, Jazira have the upper hand
Parity continued on the scoreline but there was a lot of fight on the pitch as both teams went for a goal, especially Al-Jazira who held the upper hand during this period with Mabkhout and Jones troubling the Al-Sadd defence. Just after the hour mark, Al-Dosari denied Al-Jazira a second goal after keeping out a powerful strike from Neves from inside the penalty box following a well organized move.
Mabkhout hands Al-Jazira the lead with the second goal
Mabkhout was finally able to score for Al-Jazira when he converted a free kick in the 65th minute to give his team a 2-1 lead. The Al-Sadd players attempted to react and look for an equalizer but the Jazira defence stood firm.
Hamza scores a late equalizer, Khalfan misses from the spot
Al-Sadd kept up their efforts but to no avail and in the 83rd minute, head coach Jesualdo Ferreira brought on young striker Meshaal Al-Shammari to strengthen the attack further. The Saddawi pressure continued and in the 86th minute, Al-Haydos penetrated from the right and dribbled past a couple of players but his cross was straight into the hands of Khaseif. Two minutes later, Al-Sadd scored. A long ball from Nadir Belhadj from his own half was controlled by Al-Sanhaji who stepped up and lashed the ball past Khaseif to score a late equalizer for Al-Sadd. A couple of minutes later, Al-Sadd were gifted a golden opportunity to win the match when they were given a penalty after Khalfan Ibrahim was fouled by Sultan Abdulaziz. However, Khalfan missed the resulting spot kick and the normal time ended with the score at 2-2.
Goalless halves in extra time
The first half of extra time began with a display of caution from both sides and there were no real chances in it. On 100 minutes, Hassan Al-Haydos dribbled down the right but the Jazira defence were on hand to stop him and send the ball out for a corner. Khalfan Ibrahim then had a chance in the 102nd minute but his shot went over the Al-Jazira crossbar.
With tiredness starting to affect the players, there was a similar air of caution in the second half too. There were still a couple of chances for Al-Sadd with Al-Sanhaji almost scoring the third goal in the 110th minute after exchanging some great passes with Khalfan and Al-Shammari. However, the final shot from Al-Sanhaji was into the hands of Khaseif. The striker had one more effort which went above the goal before the referee blew for the end of extra time.
MATCH DETAILS
Al-Sadd x Al-Jazira (2016 AFC Champions League playoff)
VENUE:
Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium
LINEUPS:
Al-Sadd XI – Saad Al-Dosari, Musab Khodr, Abdelkarim Hassan, Morteza Pouraliganji, Pedro Correia, Talal Al-Baloushi (Khalfan Ibrahim), Xavi Hernandez, Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Al-Haydos, Hamza Al-Sanhaji, Ali Asad (Gaser Yahya (Meshaal Al-Shammari))
Al-Jazira XI – Ali Khaseif, Ali Ahmed, Park Yong Woo, Thiago Neves, Abdulla Moussa, Yaqoob Yousef, Fares Jumuah, Ali Mabkhout (Salem Rashed), Angel Lafita (Sultan Saeed), Kenwyne Jones, Khaled Sabeel (Sultan Abdulaziz)
RESULT:
Al-Jazira win 7-6 (after penalties)
GOALS:
Hamza Al-Sanhaji (22nd and 88th) for Al-Sadd
Kenwyne Jones (45th) and Ali Mabkhout (65th) for Al-Jazira
BOOKINGS:
Morteza Pouraliganji (43rd), Hamza Al-Sanhaji (59th), and Gaser Yahya (63rd) for Al-Sadd
Khaled Sabeel (30th) and Yaqoob Yousef (112nd) for Al-Jazira
REFEREES:
Ravshan Irmatov (Main referee) – Uzbekistan
Abdelhamidullo Rasulov (Linesman) – Uzbekistan
Jakhongir Saidov (Linesman) – Uzbekistan
Sherzod Kasimov (Fourth official) – Uzbekistan