Al Sadd recorded an exciting 3-2 victory over Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the second round of King Salman Club Cup, being held from July 27 to August 12.

Substitute Gonzalo Plata’s stoppage-time goal made the difference as Al Sadd secured a hard-fought win at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Al Sadd moved on to four points, having played out a 0-0 draw with Morocco’s Wydad in their opener, and coach Bruno Miguel’s team is now in pole position to advance into the quarterfinals as a draw in the last match against Ahli Tripoli on August 2 is likely to see them through.

Al Hilal had opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the encounter through Brazilian Michael, who drove a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner of goalkeeper Meshaal Barshim off a well-placed pass from Ruben Neves.

Baghdad Bounedjah drew level for Al Sadd in the 40th minute by slotting in a header from close range to the bottom left corner from an Ali Asad cross. The jubilations that followed earned the star striker a yellow card as he was booked for excessive celebration.  

The teams headed into the dugout with the spoils evenly shared.

On resumption of second half, Tarek Salman gave Al Sadd a well-deserved lead in the 50th minute with another header from very close range to the bottom left corner following a corner.

Nine minutes later, Mohammed Waad came in to replace Ahmed Sayyar, while Al Hilal also made a substitution, with Nasser Al Dawsari replacing Yasir Al Shahrani and Mohammed Kanoo making way for Andre Carrillo.

Musaab Khedir was shown a yellow card after being adjudged to hack down Michael. A penalty was awarded to Al Hilal after a VAR decision, which was coolly converted by Salem Al Dawsari in the 68th minute to draw the match level.

Al Sadd then made a triple substitution, bringing in Romain Saiss in place of Tarek, while Paulo Otavio replaced Musaab and Plata replaced Ali Asad.

The match then went into higher gear, with both teams fighting to draw maximum points.

Just when it seemed another stalemate was in the offing, Plata powered Al Sadd to victory three minutes into injury time with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal with an assist from Bounedjah.