Al-Sadd rue missed chances after 1-1 draw with Al-Gharafa

Al-Sadd were left to rue a missed penalty and other chances after battling out a 1-1 stalemate with Al-Gharafa in the QNB Stars League Round 3 game played at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Sunday. The draw meant that Al-Sadd increased their tally to 7 points from 3 games and stayed on top of the table temporarily.

After a relatively calm start to the game, Al-Sadd were handed the opportunity to take the lead at the half-hour mark when Pedro was fouled in the box. Top scorer Baghdad Bounedjah stepped but the Algerian’s effort was kept out by Al-Gharafa keeper Yousuf Hassan.

Undeterred, the Al-Sadd players threatened the Al-Gharafa goal on multiple occasions after that only to find it difficult to break through. The first half thus went on to end with the 0-0 scoreline intact.

In the second half, Jesualdo Ferreira sent on Hassan Al-Haydos in place of Jung Woo-young to add impetus to the attack. However, against the run of play, Al-Gharafa took the lead just minutes after the restart through Vladimir Weiss. In the 49th minute, the Slovak exploited a mistake from the Al-Sadd defence before slotting home past Meshaal Barsham to make it 1-0 to Al-Gharafa.

Bounedjah had a golden chance to equalise for Al-Sadd in the 72nd minute, after being set up by a squared ball from Akram Afif, however, the Algerian saw his effort fly just wide of the post.

In the final few minutes, Al-Sadd increased the pressure on Al-Gharafa goal but were kept out by a resilient defence. Deep into added time, the Wolves were awarded a penalty for a foul on Afif. Substitute Al-Haydos stepped up to take it and made no mistake, making it 1-1 and giving Al-Sadd a point with the last kick of the match.

MATCH DETAILS:

Al-Sadd x Al-Gharafa (QNB Stars League Round 3)

Venue:

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium

Lineups:

Al-Sadd: Meshaal Barsham (GK), Ibrahim Majid (Ahmed Suhail), Pedro Miguel, Abdelkarim Hassan, Hamid Ismail, Khoukhi Boualem (Yasir Abubakar), Jung Woo-young (Hassan Al-Haydos), Gabi, Xavi, Baghdad Bounedjah, Akram Afif.

Al-Gharafa: Yousuf Hassan (GK), Saeed Al-Haj, Almahdi Ali, Yousuf Muftah, Mahdi Taremi, Wesley Sneijder, Othman Al-Yahri, Amro Seraj (Andri Syaputrah), Diogo Amado, Vladimir Weiss, Muad Yahya (Abdulghani Muneer).

Result:

1-1

Goals:

Vladimir Weiss 49′

Hassan Al-Haydos 90+4′ (PEN)

Bookings:

Saeed Al-Haj 18′

Vladimir Weiss 49′

Hamid Ismail 73′

Diogo Amado 80′

Amro Seraj 90+2′

Referees:

Khamees Al-Kuwari (Main referee)

Jumuah Burshid (Linesman)

Majed Al-Shammari (Linesman)

Mohammed Abdulaziz (Fourth official)

Abdulhadi Al-Ruwaili (Additional referee)

Mohamed Al-Shammari (Additional referee)