Lekhwiya’s Abdulrahman Hussain (right) celebrates after his team drew 2-2 with Al Sadd in the AFC Champions League round of 16 yesterday. (Right) Youssef Msakni (right) celebrates with defender Ahmed Yasser. PICTURES: Mamdouh, Anas Khalid

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Lekhwiya, reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute, managed to hold Al Sadd to a keenly-fought 2-2 draw to progress, on aggregate, to the AFC Champions League quarterfinals for the second time in two years.
The second leg of the all-Qatar Round of 16 match, played at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, was a high-tension affair as both teams sought to assert their supremacy. Lekhwiya had a 2-1 advantage from the first leg. It was substitute Ismail Mohamad who scored in the 83rd minute to level the scores in the match and helped Lekhwiya advance 4-3 on aggregate.   
Lekhwiya had started the match well after they got the early goal through Youssef Msakni in the 13th minute with Sebastian Soria providing a great cross for the assist. But then in the 34th minute Lekhwiya defender Ahmed Yasser was given a second yellow card for his foul on Khalfan Ibrahim. Muriqui scored with a great strike from the resultant free kick and the tone of the match completely changed.
It was all Sadd after that as Lekhwiya were trying to desperately defend their precious one-goal advantage. The constant pressure was bound to yield a result and it did in the 63rd minute. Sadd midfielder Ali Asadalla scored with a calm and composed finish into the far corner after he was given a great pass by Nadir Belhadj from the left flank.
With Lekhwiya now needing to score to progress, coach Michael Laudrup brought on Mohamad to replace winger Vladimir Weiss. And that move proved to be the master stroke as the Qatari striker provided the deciding goal. The move came off a failed Sadd attack and Lekhwiya skipper Karim Boudiaf after making a run down the left flank crossed to Mohamad who trapped the ball with his right foot and then fired the shot with his left for a momentous goal.  
Sadd had a great chance to pull off a win in the 92nd minute but Ali’s shot was saved by Claude Amin.

Results
AFC Champions League Round of 16:

 
Kashiwa Reysol (JPN) 1 (Kobayashi 65) Suwon Samsung (KOR) 2 (Chong Te-se 26, Koo Ja-ryong 54)
Aggregate score 4-4. Kashiwa win on away goals
 
Beijing Guoan (CHN) 0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) 1 (Edu 72)
Jeonbuk win 2-1 on aggregate
 
Lekhwiya (QAT) 2 (Msakni 13, Ismail Mohamad  83) Al Sadd (QAT) 2 (Muriqui 36, Asadalla 63)
Aggregate score 4-3