AFC Champions League: Bounedjah propels Al-Sadd to 3-1 comeback win over Esteghlal

Baghdad Bounedjah helped Al-Sadd overturn a one-goal deficit in style, on the way to a 3-1 win over Iranian side Esteghlal in the first leg of the 2018 AFC Champions League quarterfinals on Monday.

After falling behind early on to an own goal from goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham, Akram Afif levelled the score in the 60th minute. Bounedjah then gave Al-Sadd the lead in the 64th minute before scoring again from the penalty spot in the 74th minute.

Al Sadd began the game brightly, with Akram Afif carving out a chance in the second minute. Afif’s squared ball towards the onrushing Bounedjah was, however, cleared by Rouzbeh Cheshmi at the last moment.

The momentum then swung in favour of hosts Esteghlal who took the lead through a surprising own goal in the 12th minute. A high ball into the Al Sadd box was headed down by Boualem Khoukhi for his keeper Meshaal Aissa to pick up, but the young custodian inadvertently let it slip past him to break the deadlock.

Ferreira’s men tried hard to fight their way back and came up with multiple chances only to be denied on every occasion. In the 30th minute, Khoukhi Boualem sent a powerful shot at goal from a free-kick but Esteghlal keeper Mehdi Rahmati kept it out. Bounedjah then did well to beat three Esteghlal defenders but his shot went whizzing past the right post.

Esteghlal maintained their lead right up to halftime, after a surviving a scare in injury time when Afif’s shot rebounded off the post only to be gathered by Rahmati.

In the second half, Al Sadd came out to the pitch and put pressure on the Esteghlal goal from the get go. They were finally rewarded at the hour mark following a well-worked move. After a fine one-two with Bounedjah, Afif sped past his marker and finished past Rahmati to equalise.

Five minutes later, Bounedjah latched onto Xavi’s flicked through ball, made his way into the box, turned Mohammad Daneshgar inside out before slotting home to make it 2-1.

The Algerian then made it 3-1 in the 74th minute after winning and converted a penalty, following a foul on him by Vouria Ghafouri. The Wolves held on to the two-goal cushion for the remainder of the match, seeing it out against the hosts and assuring themselves of the advantage ahead of the second leg in Doha.

MATCH DETAILS

Al-Sadd 3-1 Esteghlal (AFC Champions League Quarterfinals 1st Leg)

VENUE:

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

LINEUPS:

Al-Sadd: Meshaal Barsham, Hamid Ismail, Pedro, Boualem Khoukhi, Abdelkarim Hassan, Jung Woo-young, Yasir Abubakar (Hassan Al Haydos), Gabi, Xavi, Akram Afif (Ali Asad), Baghdad Bounedjah (Hamza Al Sanhaji)

Esteghlal: Mehdi Rahmati, Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Armin Sohrabian, Vouria Ghafouri, Pejman Montazeri, Farshid Esmaeili, Farshid Bagheri, Markus Neumayr (Mohammad Daneshgar), Alhaji Gero, Humam Tareq (Seyed Aghaei), Morteza Tabrizi

GOALS:

Meshaal Barsham 12′ (OG)

Akram Afif 60′

Baghdad Bounedjah 65, 74′

BOOKINGS:

Jung Woo-young 25′

Markus Neumayr 41′

Armin Sohrabian 47′

Farshid Bagheri 63′

REFEREES:

Ma Ning (Main referee)

Cao Yi (Linesman)

Shi Xiang (Linesman)

Huo Weiming (Fourth official)