Al-Sadd defeated Al-Sailiya 2-0 in the QNB Stars League Round 12 game that was played at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium on Monday.
Akram Afif scored both goals for Al-Sadd, with a strike apiece in each half (42’, 62’). The result extends the Wolves’ lead at the top of the table, taking their points tally to 31 from 11 games, with a postponed fixture against Al-Wakrah yet to be played.
At the start of the game, Al-Sadd seemed to have been dealt a setback when Ramin Rezaeian had the ball in the net for Al-Sailiya in the 6th minute. However, the referee ruled the effort out for offside.
Following that incident, Al-Sadd regrouped and went on to establish their dominance, but chances did not materialise until the 26th minute, when Akram played in a ball from the right towards Santi, only to see the Spaniard’s shot get deflected out.
In the 33rd minute, Akram had a go from the edge of the box but Al-Sailiya keeper Amine Lecomte kept the ball out for a corner.
Finally, just before halftime, Al-Sadd took the lead. Andre Ayew was brought down in the box and Akram dispatched the resulting penalty to open the scoring.
After the break, the Wolves stepped up the pressure and went in search for a second goal. In the 56th minute, Hassan Al-Haydos met Guilherme’s cross with a header but the effort was pushed onto the crossbar and out by Lecomte.
Right after the hour mark, the second goal arrived and once again it was Akram’s name that went up on the scoreboard. Baghdad Bounedjah, who had just come on, latched on to a through ball and then pushed it sideways away from the advancing keeper, towards Akram who got past a defender and tapped in.
Bounedjah then had chances to extend the lead further, but Lecomte denied him on each occasion. After three minutes of additional time, the referee’s whistle signalled a 2-0 victory for Al-Sadd, their 10th win of the season.
MATCH DETAILS
Al-Sadd x Al-Sailiya (QNB Stars League Round 12)
Venue:
Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium
Lineups:
Al-Sadd: Meshaal Barsham, Tarek Salman, Abdelkarim Hassan, Jung Woo-young, Rodrigo Tabata (Ali Asad), Hassan Al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Guilherme Torres, Santi Cazorla (Abdullah Al-Yazidi), Andre Ayew (Baghdad Bounedjah), Musaab Khidir
Al-Sailiya: Amine Lecomte, Ali Mohammed, Ahmed Al M’inhala, Mustafa Mohammed, Magdi Siddiq, Ramin Rezaeian, Saad Al Suwan, Rami Fayez, Mohammed Muddather, Nassim Hnid, Driss Fettouhi
Result:
Al-Sadd won 2-0
Goals:
Akram Afif 42’ (PEN), 62’
Bookings:
Driss Fettouhi 33’
Saad Al Suwan 45’
Ali Asad 90’
Referees:
Khaled Nabit (main referee)
Taleb Salem (assistant 1)
Faisal Al Shammari (assistant 2)
Nasser Ayesh (fourth official)
