Rodrigo Tabata (R) of Qatar’s Al Sadd celebrates with Khalfan Ibrahim after scoring the match-winner against UAE’s Al Ahli in their AFC Championship League match in Doha yesterday.

By Sports Reporter/Doha



A superb strike by Rodrigo Tabata helped Qatar giants Al Sadd make the last 16 of the Asian Champions League with a 2-1 win over the UAE’s Al Ahli in their final Group D clash at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha yesterday.
The crucial win saw Al Sadd take second place with eight points, one behind Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal who beat Iran’s Foolad Sepahan 1-0 in Riyadh.
Al Ahli and Al Sadd had drawn their previous clash 1-1 but yesterday’s result saw the UAE side slip from the top of the group to third and bow out of the tournament, much to the disappointment of a sizeable contingent of their fans who had travelled to Qatar for the match.
It was Al Ahli, however, who took the lead, Grafite beating the Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb with a 15th minute strike off a pass from Jociel da Silva.
But Al Ahli failed to capitalize on their advantage as some extremely slopping defending allowed Tabata to snatch the ball and pass it to Khalfan Ibrahim who scored with a fine shot from close in the 34th minute.
Al Sadd introduced skipper Raul in the 56th minute and it fired up the team as Al Ahli began to panic. And sure enough the Al Ahli defence fell once again – this time Ibrahim returning the favour by passing to Tabata, whose cracking shot from the top of the box slammed into the net.
Earlier, Lekhwiya, who had crashed out of the tournament last week, scored a consolation 1-0 win over Iran’s Tractorsazi in group C. However, the win was of no use to the Iranians as the UAE’s Al Ain and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad had already booked their last 16 spots.
Elsewhere, a first-half double from Brazilian striker Elkeson rescued title-holders Guangzhou Evergrande from possible elimination and sent them into the last 16 yesterday
Marcello Lippi’s injury-hit tournament favourites had been in danger of bowing out but they shrugged off the pressure to beat Yokohama F Marinos 2-1 in their final group game.
Guangzhou were joined by 2006 winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, who survived a late penalty shout to draw 0-0 with Melbourne Victory and escape an ultra-tight Group G on goal difference.
Earlier in Group H, Western Sydney Wanderers beat Guizhou Renhe 5-0, the biggest win by an Australian club in the competition, to reach the knock-outs on their tournament debut.
And Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale also progressed when they were 3-1 winners at home against Ulsan Hyundai, the 2012 champions who paid the price for losing their last three games.
Last week’s shock loss to Victory had left World Cup-winner Lippi’s much-admired Guangzhou in the perilous position of being level with all three of their group rivals on points with one game remaining.
But on a tense evening at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Sport Center stadium, Elkeson took just 11 minutes to settle the nerves when he nodded the defending champions in front.
And the packed crowd were celebrating shortly before half-time when the big forward, fed by Muriqui, chipped the on-rushing goalkeeper and saw his shot headed over the line by defender Yuzo Kobayashi.