Qatar’s Al Sadd left it late to hold Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr to a 1-1 draw in Round 5 (Group D) of the 2020 AFC Champions League at the Al Sadd Stadium on Monday.

Baghdad Bounedjah scored for Al Sadd in the 87th minute to cancel out Khalid Al Ghannam’s 22nd-minute strike.

Al Nassr and Al Sadd moved on to 11 and nine points respectively. Both teams secured their berths in the knockout Round of 16.

The two sides had shared the spoils when they met earlier in the tournament, with top scorer Abderrazak Hamdallah and Abdulrahman Al Obaid getting on the scoresheet for Al Nassr, while Hassan Al Haydous’ goal was supplemented with Abdulelah Al Amri’s own goal for Al Sadd.

Both teams proved why they are the top-scoring sides in the competition with chances coming as early as the fifth minute of play, when Bounedjah squandered an excellent chance to break the deadlock when he fired wide, after a beautifully-weighted pass from Nam Tae-Hee.

Another chance fell to the Qatari side when Akram Afif cut inside from the left flank and started a string of pitch-wide passes that went through Nam and Bounedjah before Al Haydous angled a shot into the top corner, but Brad Jones’ acrobatic brilliance denied the Al Sadd captain.

Abdulfatah Adam was responsible for missing the first big chance that fell to the Saudi Pro League side, after Guilherme was dispossessed in midfield, the result of which was a high ball that Adam chased down before lashing a stinging shot on goal that keeper Saad Al Sheeb pushed out.

The first goal came through Al Ghannam, after receiving a throw in down the left flank, he dribbled into the penalty area and took on marker Pedro Miguel before taking a shot from an extremely-tight angle that rolled between the keeper’s legs and settled into the net.

Intensity petered out as the game progressed with fatigue setting in, but Nam had a golden chance to equalise five minutes from time when Afif carefully lifted a ball across the box to youngster Yusuf Abdulrazaq, who headed it down for the Korean player, but the latter missed it.

Three minutes from time, Bounedjah gifted his side a point when he curled the ball into Jones’ net after Afif had played a ground pass to Nam and the latter beautifully played the Algerian international in to finish off.