Al-Sadd lose 4-3 to Al-Duhail in QNB Stars League summit clash

Al-Sadd fell to a 4-3 defeat away to Al-Duhail in a top-of-the-table QNB Stars League clash at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Thursday evening.

The defeat means that Al-Sadd remain in second place in the standings with 46 points, five behind Al-Duhail with three more games to go.

Jugurtha Hamroun opened the scoring for Al-Sadd in the 11th minute after getting at the end of Abdelkarim Hassan’s low cross from the left.

Moments later, Baghdad Bounedjah almost put Al-Sadd 2-0 in front but the Algerian’s effort crashed off the post and went out. Bounedjah then had the ball in the net in the 26th minute but Al-Sadd were denied a goal after the linesman raised his flag.

In the 37th minute, Al-Duhail hit back and equalized through Ismail Mohammad who got on to a loose ball in the box and tapped in from close range to make it 1-1.

Three minutes later, Youssef Msakni put Al-Duhail in the lead with a shot from outside the box that crept in past Saad Al-Dosari, giving the home side a 2-1 advantage at halftime.

In the second half, Al-Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira sent on Akram Afif to replace Xavi, who was taken off due to a knock.

Al-Sadd went on to pile on the pressure and the equalizer finally arrived in the 70th minute through Bounedjah, who headed in Hamroun’s cross to make it 2-2.

Bounedjah then scored his second goal of the game and put Al-Sadd in the lead again with a volleyed finish in the 81st minute, after a brilliant lobbed pass from Afif.

However, the night would belong to Al-Duhail who struck twice late on. First, Msakni levelled the scores with another shot from outside the box in the 86th minute while Youssef El Arabi netted with a fierce strike in 93rd minute to give Al-Duhail a 4-3 win.

Al-Sadd ended the game with ten men after Hamid Ismail wsa sent off for a second bookable offence in the 90th minute.

MATCH DETAILS

Al-Sadd x Al-Duhail (QNB Stars League Round 19)

Venue:

Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium

Lineups:

Al-Sadd: Saad Al-Dosari, Pedro Miguel, Hamid Ismail, Ahmed Suhail, Abdelkarim Hassan, Khoukhi Boualem (Hassan Al-Haydos), Yasir Abubakar, Ali Asad (Salem Al-Hajri), Xavi Hernandez (Akram Afif), Jugurtha Hamroun, Baghdad Bounedjah

Al-Duhail: Amine Lecomte, Mohammed Musa, Lucas Mendes, Ismail Mohammad (Almoez Ali), Luiz Mairton (Bassam Al Rawi), Youssef El Arabi, Nam Tae Hee, Karim Boudiaf, Sultan Al-Breik, Murad Naji, Youssef Msakni

Result:

Al-Duhail won 4-3

Goals:

Jugurtha Hamroun 11′

Ismail Mohammad 37′

Youssef Msakni 40′, 86′

Baghdad Bounedjah 70′, 81′

Youssef El Arabi 93′

Bookings:

Yasir Abubakar 54′

Hamid Ismail 60′, 90′ (Red card)

Lucas Mendes 66′

Luiz Mairton 80′

Referees:

Simon Marciniak (Main referee)

Pawel Sokolnicki (Linesman)

Tomasz Listkiewiscz (Linesman)

Ramzan Al-Nuaimi (Fourth official)

Nayef Al-Qadri (Additional referee)

Saoud Al-Athba (Additional referee)