Al-Sadd fell to a 3-1 defeat to Al-Nassr on Matchday 2 of the AFC Champions League 2021, in the Group D game which was played on Saturday at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh.
Abderrazak Hamdallah gave Al-Nassr the lead with a penalty in the 37th minute, before Santi Cazorla equalised in the 59th minute. Abdulmajeed Al Sulayhim then scored Al-Nassr’s second goal in the 78th minute, while Khaled Al Ghannam netted their third in stoppage time.
The result means Al-Sadd have just one point after two games.
The match got off to a cautious start, and there wasn’t much danger at either end early on, except for Ali Asad’s pass towards Baghdad Bounedjah in the 4th minute. Bounedjah could have gone on to score but he failed to control the ball. Then, in the other box, Al-Nassr appealed for a penalty after Abderrazak Hamdallah was brought down in the area, but the referee waved play on.
The first real opportunity for Al-Sadd came in the 34th minute, when Pedro played in a great cross from the right, and Bounedjah met it with a volley, only to see the ball fly over the crossbar.
Three minutes later, Al-Nassr took the lead. The referee pointed towards the penalty spot after he adjudged that Abdelkarim Hassan had handled the ball in the box. Hamdallah scored with the resultant spot kick, which gave Al-Nassr a 1-0 advantage at halftime.
At the beginning of the second half, Al-Sadd emerged with a strong desire to score and were very active from the first touch. In the 52nd minute, Hassan Al-Haydos sent a through ball aimed at Ali Asad, who crossed into the area, but the defence cleared the danger before the ball could reach Cazorla. Pedro then crossed towards Nam, whose shot was cleared off the line.
The much-needed goal finally arrived in the 59th minute, when Cazorla found the target from a free-kick to put Al-Sadd back on level terms.
After the equaliser, however, Al-Sadd failed to capitalise and it was Al-Nassr who went up again when they scored against the run of play in the 78th minute. Substitute Abdulmajeed Al Sulayhim sent a powerful shot past Meshaal Barsham from close range to put his side back in the lead.
Bounedjah then had two chances to equalise, but missed the target on both occasions as the ball flew over the crossbar. Then, in stoppage time, Khaled Al-Ghannam scored Al-Nassr’s third goal off a counter attack to make it 3-1.
MATCH DETAILS
Al-Sadd x Al-Nassr (AFC Champions League 2021)
Venue:
King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh
Lineups:
Al-Sadd: Meshall Barsham, Pedro Miguel, Abdelkarim Hassan (Tarek Salman), Khoukhi Boualem, Mohammed Waad (Salem Al-Hajri), Ali Asad (Yousuf Abdurisag), Nam Tae-hee, Baghdad Bounedjah, Hassan Al-Haydos (Rodrigo Tabata), Guilherme Torres, Santi Cazorla
Al-Nassr: Brad Jones, Ali Lajami, Abdulfattah Assiri, Ali Alhassan, Sami Al Najei, Sultan Al Ghannam, Abdullah Madu, Abdullah Al-Amri, Petros, Nordin Amrabat, Abderrazak Hamdallah
Result:
Al-Nassr won 3-1
Goals:
Abderrazak Hamdallah 37′ (P)
Santi Cazorla 59′
Abdulmajeed Al Sulayhim 78′
Khaled Al-Ghannam 90+3′
Bookings:
Ali Lajami 23′
Yousuf Abdurisag 64′
Referees:
Ali Sabah (main referee)
Haidar Ali (assistant 1)
Amir Daoud (assistant 2)
Ali Hassan (fourth official)
