QNB Stars League: Al-Sadd held to 1-1 draw by Al-Arabi

Al-Sadd dropped points for the second straight game in the QNB Stars League, after being held to a 1-1 draw with Al-Arabi in their Round 16 clash which was played on Thursday at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.

Akram Afif gave the Wolves a 29th minute lead, before Pierre Michel Lasogga equalised for Al-Arabi in the 88th minute.

The result keeps Al-Sadd in third place with 32 points in the league table.

Al-Sadd got off to a strong start, with Afif having a great opportunity to score in the second minute. He had gone through on goal, but the Al-Arabi keeper managed to keep the ball away from him. The ball fell to Nam Tae-hee’s feet, but his follow-up shot went wide of the right post.

A minute before the half-hour mark, Akram gave Al-Sadd the breakthrough, latching on to a through ball by Baghdad Bounedjah before scoring with a lob over the keeper to make it 1-0.

Al-Sadd kept looking for a second goal to extend their advantage, and dominated possession for the rest of the game but were not able to carve out solid chances.

Head coach Xavi Hernandez replaced Marco Fabian with Mohammed Waad in the 81st minute to freshen up the attack. In the 84th minute, Afif went up the left wing and sent in a cross for Bounedjah, but the ball was saved by the keeper.

Al-Arabi levelled the scores in the 88th minute, after they were awarded a penalty following a VAR review. Lasogga dispatched the spot-kick, and despite Al-Sadd’s late efforts to claim the win, the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

MATCH DETAILS

Al-Sadd x Al Arabi (QNB Stars League Round 16)

Venue:

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium

Lineups:

Al-Sadd: Saad Al-Dosari, Pedro Miguel, Abdelkarim Hassan, Khoukhi Boualem, Tarek Salman, Jung Woo-young, Gabi, Nam Tae-hee, Marco Fabian (Mohammed Waad), Akram Afif, Baghdad Bounedjah

Al-Arabi: Mahmoud Ibrahim, Marc Martinez, Abdullah Hassan, Jassim Jaber, Pierre Michel Lasogga, Aron Gunnarsson, Yusef Abdurisag, Fahad Shanin, Mohammed Saad (Hilal Mohammad), Yaseen Yaqoub (Hamdi Harbaoui), Morteza Pouraliganji

Result:

1-1 draw

Goals:

Akram Afif 29′
Pierre Michel Lasogga 88′ (P)

Bookings:

Tarek Salman 12′
Nam Tae-hee 21′
Jung Woo-young 2′
Abdullah Maarifi 88′

Referees:

Main referee: Abdulrahman Al-Marri
Assistant referee: Mohammed Jaber Dharman
Assistant referee: Saoud Ahmed
Fourth official: Hamad Al-Subaiei