The first match of round 7 saw Al Sadd travel to the Grand Hamad Stadium to face Al Ahli last Friday 17th Oct’ at 17:30.The Qatar Stars League resumed after a two-week break and it did so with a bang as Al Sadd produced a gritty come-back winning 2-1 win against Al Ahli in a keenly contested match that saw seven yellow cards handed out.
Going into the game the oldest team in the league Al Ahli had lost two and won their most recent game against Al Shamal 1-0. TheIR inconsistency meant it was difficult to predict just which Al Ahli team would turn up to face the Wolves.
Al Sadd on the other hand was in great form leading up to this clash and had still not lost a single game. In the previous round Al Sadd proved their metal with an important and convincing win against last season’s champions Lekhwiya (3-0).
Sadd started the game on the front foot and should have gone ahead on the 13th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Abdelkarem Hassan was brought down by Tahir Zakariya.
Khalfan Ibrahim stepped up to take the penalty but his shot was blocked by Ahli keeper Amer Dosari to everyone’s surprise.
The first goal of the match came with an Al Ahli strike just before the end of the first half on the 43rd minute. Alain Dioko who last season was the league’s top scorer continued with his hot streak of goals and it was a timely moment to score as the Brigadiers went into the break with the one goal advantage.
However the second half would turn out quite differently from the first as the wolves responded almost immediately. Hassan Al Haydoos found the equalizer just 3 minutes after the restart giving his side the momentum and inspiration to go for the win. The forward latched onto a pass by playmaker Ibrahim Khalfan and slotted home past Dosari and into the far corner.
After the goal both teams had chances to put the game to bed. Ahli could have restored the lead in the 52nd minute when an unmarked Dioko got a pass inside the box from a corner but his header was just wide of the far post.
Then Al Sadd’s Lee Jung-Soo came within inches of giving his side the lead when his flying header from inside the box deflected off an Ahli defender and went wide, to the relief of the Brigadiers fans.
Sadd then finally managed to break the deadlock in the 79th minute through substitute Hamza Sanhaji who, having got a pass inside the box from Hassan fired in a great shot that went inside the near post to give his team the lead.
Al Ahli had a great chance themselves to score the equaliser in the 91st minute but substitute Jouhen Beitsoun’s header from inside the box was just wide of the mark.
Sadd now have six wins from seven matches so far and are looking in good form at the top of the table with 19 points.
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