Al-Sadd dazzles in derby win over Al-Arabi

Al-Sadd dazzles in derby win over Al-Arabi
28 Feb 2016

Al-Sadd triumphed in the Doha derby after a dazzling 3-1 win over Al-Arabi in the Qatar Stars League Round 20 match played at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Sunday. The result kept the Wolves in fourth place in the league table with 35 points.

Musab Khodr opened the scoring for Al-Sadd in the 20th minute before Morteza Pouraliganji added a second in the 30th minute, netting his first goal with the club. Al-Arabi halved the deficit with Javad Nekounam four minutes into the second half. Hassan Al-Haydos then scored the third goal for Al-Sadd in the 75th minute to complete a 3-1 win.

Strong start for the Wolves

Al-Sadd started the match brightly with the players putting pressure on the Al-Arabi defence from the first minute. In the 8th minute, Xavi played in a cross which was not dealt with properly by the Arabi keeper Rajab Hamza and the ball fell to Hamza Al-Sanhaji. However, Hamza saw his shot fly over the bar. Al-Sadd continued to have the upper hand over Al-Arabi in the first quarter of an hour.

Saddawi dominance continues, Musab scores

The Al-Sadd domination continued to hold sway and in the 19th minute, Hassan Al-Haydos dribbled quickly on the right win after getting past Ahmed Shahdad and played a cross into the box but Dami Traore cleared the danger. Xavi then played a magical through ball between the defenders to Meshaal Al-Shammari, however the ball went out for a corner off Rajab Hamza. Just a minute later, Musab Khodr went on to open the scoring. The right back picked up a pass by Xavi before getting into the box and shooting past Rajab to give Al-Sadd the lead.

Morteza adds a second

In the 30th minute, Morteza Pouraliganji added a second goal for Al-Sadd after heading in a great delivery from Xavi at a corner kick. This was the first goal for the Iranian defender in Al-Sadd colours. The Wolves continued to hold the upper hand in the match before the referee blew his whistle to signal halftime.

Kasola replaces Meshaal, Nekounam pulls one back

Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira sent on Mohammed Kasola to replace Meshaal Al-Shammari at the start of the second half; Kasola played next to Salem Al-Hajri in central midfield while Xavi moved further up front to play alongside Al-Haydos and Ali Asad. In the 49th minute, Al-Arabi cut the deficit with Iranian midfielder Nekounam scoring past Saad Al-Dosari from inside the box, after Al-Sadd defenders failed to clear.

Al-Arabi put pressure on Al-Sadd

From then on, Al-Arabi put their men forward in search of an equalizer and put pressure on Al-Sadd, who reacted with an approach balancing between offence and defence. In the 64th minute, Ali Asad sent a powerful shot from outside the penalty box but the ball flew just high of the crossbar. Hamza Al-Sanhaji then had an attempt in the 72nd minute with a shot that went wide of the left post of Rajab in the Al-Arabi goal.

Al-Haydos scores the third goal

The match was almost put beyond doubt in the 75th minute, when Al-Sadd managed to add a third goal to their tally. Xavi first played a great through ball to send Al-Sanhaji one on one with Rajab Hamza. Al-Sanhaji got into the box before playing the ball across to the oncoming Al-Haydos who made no mistake with a cool finish. That made the score 3-1 and it is how the match ended, despite Arbawi attempts to score.

MATCH DETAILS

Al-Sadd v Al-Arabi

Qatar Stars League Round 20

VENUE: Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium

LINEUPS:

AL-SADD: Saad Al-Dosari, Morteza Pouraliganji, Musab Khodr, Abdelkarim Hassan, Nadir Belhadj, Xavi Hernandez, Salem Al-Hajri (Gaser Yahya), Hassan Al-Haydos, Ali Asad (Nasser Al-Nasr), Meshaal al-Shammari (Mohammed Kasola), Hamza Al-Sanhaji

AL-ARABI: Rajab Hamza, Paulo Sergio, Yousef Ramadan, Boualem Khoukhi, Ahmed Al-Nahawi, Mohammed Shabaan (Abdulaziz Al-Sulaiti), Ahmed Shahdad (Mohammed Salem), Alain Souza, Dame Traore, Ashkan Dejagah, Javad Nekounam
RESULT: Al-Sadd won 3-1
GOALS:

Musab Khodr (20th), Morteza Pouraliganji (30th) and Hassan Al-Haydos (75th) for Al-Sadd
Javad Nekounam (49th) for Al-Arabi

BOOKINGS:

Salem Al-Hajri (34th) and Morteza Pouraliganji (41st) for Al-Sadd
Mohammed Shabaan (56th), Ahmed Al-Nahawi (67th) and Alan Souza (82nd) for Al-Arabi
REFEREES:

Milorad Mazic (Main referee)

Milovan Ristic (Linesman)

Dalibor Djurdjevic (Linesman)

Abdulrahman Abdou (Fourth official)

Mohammed Jad (Additional)

Mohammed Shabeer (Additional)