AFC Champions League: Al-Sadd defeat Sepahan 3-0 to get first win

Al-Sadd earned their first win of the 2020 AFC Champions League, defeating Iranian side Sepahan 3-0 in their Group D Matchday 2 clash, which was played at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday.

All the goals came in the second half. Akram Afif opened the scoring the 51st minute, before a Hassan Al-Haydos double (72′, 78′) secured the result for the Wolves.

With this result, Al-Sadd go joint top of the group table alongside Al-Nassr, with a tally of four points, following a win and a draw.

The match got off to a spirited start with Akram nearly putting the Wolves in front in the 2nd minute, only for the Sepahan keeper to avert the danger in the last moment.

Al-Sadd kept on pushing for the opening goal, but it proved difficult. In the 43rd minute, Akram set up Baghdad Bounedjah, but the Algerian’s shot was kept out by the keeper for a corner.

After the restart, Al-Sadd came out with renewed vigour and this time, their efforts paid off. Bounedjah put Akram through on goal, and the Asian Player of the Year deftly chipped the ball past the keeper to make it 1-0.

Having taken the lead, the Wolves went looking for more goals, and it was through Al-Haydos that they found what they were looking for. In the 72nd minute, he finished off a low cross from Bounedjah on the right to double Al-Sadd’s advantage.

Then, in the 78th minute, Afif did well to penetrate into the box from the left before playing the ball towards the oncoming Al-Haydos, who made no mistake with a cool finish to give Al-Sadd a 3-0 lead.

Young midfielder Mohammad Waad, who came on as a substitute for Khoukhi Boualem, had a chance to score in the 84th minute, with a looping shot that forced the Sepahan keeper into a difficult save. The match thus went on to end in a 3-0 win for Al-Sadd, who got their first three points of the campaign.

MATCH DETAILS

Al-Sadd x Sepahan (AFC Champions League 2020 Group D – Matchday Two)

Venue:

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium

Lineups:

Al-Sadd: Saad Al-Dosari, Yasir Abubakar, Tarek Salman, Khoukhi Boualem (Mohammed Waad), Pedro (Hamed Ismail), Jung Woo-young, Gabi, Nam Tae-hee, Hassan Al-Haydos, Baghdad Bounedjah, Akram Afif (Hashim Ali)

Sepahan: Payam Niazmand, Mohammad Tayebi, Ali Mosleh Taklimi, Morteza Mansouri (Reza Mirzaei), Mehdi Kiani, Mohammad Reza Hosseini, Omid Nor Afkan, Mohammed Mohebbi, Soroush Rafiei (Sajad Shahbazzadeh), Ali Ghorbani (Muhsen Al Ghassani), Saeid Aghaei

Result:

Al-Sadd won 3-0

Goals:

51′ Akram Afif
72′ Hassan Al-Haydos
78′ Hassan Al-Haydos

Bookings:

10′ Mohammad Tayebi

Referees:

Main referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)
Assistant referee: Ruslan Serzitdinov (Uzbekistan)
Assistant referee: Alisher Usmanov (Uzbekistan)
Fourth official: Akhrol Riskullaev (Uzbekistan)