Al Sadd continued their perfect start to the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League after their 4-2 defeat of Al Ahli in Week 2 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday.

Akram Afif scored a penalty (26th minute) and provided two assists, Amin Hazbavi (seventh minute), Yuosef Abdurisag (62nd minute) and Gonzalo Plata added the fourth (79th minute) for Al Sadd as The Wolves continued their good form in the new season.

Al Ahli’s goals came off the boots of Naim Sliti, who successfully converted two penalties (76th and 82nd minutes).

Al Sadd had defeated Umm Salal 3-1 in the opening week, while Al Ahli lost 1-2 to defending champions Al Duhail.

Ahead of Saturday’s match, Al Sadd coach Bruno Miguel stated that his team would like to maintain the mentality that they showed against Umm Salal in their clash with Al Ahli. And rightly so, they did it in their encounter against The Brigadiers.

Al Sadd made their statement of intent known early when Hazbavi headed in an Afif cross, following a corner, from the right side of the six-yard box to the top right corner. 

Al Sadd continued to relentlessly press forward and Al Ahli goalkeeper Yazan Naim was called into action three times within three minutes. First, Afif’s right-footed shot from outside the box was saved in the top right corner in the 11th minute, before Hazbavi’s header from the centre of the box a minute later was saved in the top centre of the goal. Guilherme’s 13th-minute right-footed shot from outside the box was also saved in the centre of the goal.

After several attempts, Al Ahli’s defence eventually caved in for the second time, with Jassem Mohammed conceding a penalty after a foul on Afif in the penalty area.

The star striker wasted no time in slotting home the spot kick with a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner in the 26th minute to make it 2-0 for Al Sadd.

Naim tried a through ball in the 28th minute, but Jassem Mohammed was caught offside and the goalkeeper had to leave the pitch 11 minutes later after picking up an injury. He was replaced by second-choice Marwan Badreldin.

Al Ahli made a substitution at half-time, with Ahmad Al Sebai replacing Abubakar Mohammed Bayomi.

Afif made his second assist of the night for Abdurisag in the 62nd minute and the winger wasted no time in delivering a powerful right-footed shot from the centre of the box that caught Badreldin napping as Al Sadd seemed to take the game beyond Al Ahli’s reach.

Al Sadd were down to 10 men in the 74th minute when Ahmed Suhail got the marching orders from the referee for a reckless foul on Yazan Al Naimat in the penalty area. The subsequent spot kick was converted by Sliti in the 76th minute to give Al Ahli a stake in the game.

The muted celebrations had hardly died down before Al Sadd restored their three-goal advantage through Plata, whose left-footed shot from very close range hit the target in the 78th minute.

Al Sadd conceded another penalty two minutes later after Paulo Otavio handled the ball in the 18-yard box. Sliti wasted no time in hitting the bottom right corner to reduce the deficit for his side.

As much as Al Ahli tried to get back into the game, Al Sadd stood their ground to ensure the game ended with a two-goal advantage.