Salim Cheniouni
Al-Sadd entered the semi-finals of
the AFC Champions League after equalising against Esteghlal FC in their second
leg quarterfinals match at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, here on Monday.
Starting off with a 3-1 lead from the
first leg in Tehran, the 2-2 result at home was enough to send Jesualdo
Ferreira’s men into the final four with a 5-3 aggregate win.
Al-Sadd began the game in the best
possible way when Akram Afif scored with a brilliant shot in the 27th
minute, after a clever pass by Baghdad Bounedjah inside the penalty box. The
game appeared to be over with that goal, yet Estghalal equalised 5 minutes
later in the 33rd minute, when Al-Sadd goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham
made a sloppy mistake with his handling of Rouhollah Bagheri’s shot.
Estghalal’s goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati
made some crucial saves to keep the score 1-1 by half-time. The second-half started
on a bad note for Al-Sadd, with Estghalal striker Morteza Tabrizi doubling the
visitor’s lead with a header from a corner kick in the 49th minute.
This put the Iranian side right back into contention.
The pressure was on, Estghalal FC
were one goal away from a 4-4 aggregate, but sloppy defending by Roozbeh Cheshmi
saw him earn his second yellow card, leaving his teammates down to 10 men
chasing the score. Al-Sadd took full advantage of the dominating ball
possession, creating numerous chances, still Estghalal showed great tactical
awareness to keep the game open.
Al-Sadd managed to show great
composure with likes of Xavi and Gabi coming to the fore for the remainder of
the second half. Al-Sadd were rewarded with a penalty in the in the 90th
minute, which was effectively converted by Baghdad Bounedjah, sealing the fate
for the visitors. At the final whistle, the score was 2-2.
They now face last year’s
semi-finalists, Persepolis FC, who beat Al-Duhail 3-2 on aggregate. This would
be the first time since 2011 that Al-Sadd have reached the semi-finals of the
AFC Champions League. That season they went on to win the league.