Sadd fight back to earn gritty draw against Shamal

By Sports Reporter/DohaThere is only one team that has been unbeaten in the Qatar Stars League this season and that is Al Sadd. But yesterday that record was at stake when they were down 1-2 against Al Shamal but the Wolves fought back and equalised through midfielder Hassan al-Haydos to rescue a point.Sadd had taken an early lead through Abdelkareem Hasan in the 12th minute and Shamal, who had not won a single match in the QSL so far, weren’t expected to pose too much of a threat. But then Shamal, playing at their home ground, found some extra wind in their sails and scored two goals in 14 minutes to rattle Sadd. For Shamal Cho Yonghyung scored in the 18th minute and then Said Boutahar scored in the 32nd minute to give the home side an expected lead.Shamal put up a strong fight in the second half but Sadd’s famed firepower stepped up to the task and scored the equaliser through al-Haydos in the 62nd minute. Sadd were pushing for a winner but Shamal were able to restrict them.Sadd coach Hussein Ammota will be happy that his side were able to rescue a point while Shamal coach Silvio Diliberto will be ruing the fact that his team couldn’t hold on to the lead which would have given them their first win this season. And what a win it would have been.Jaish draw tooIn the other match of the day, El Jaish, playing their first game without their coach Nabil Maaloul, were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Kharaitiyat. Jaish were trailing after a 31st minute goal by Abdulaziz Rashid Ansari but managed to equalise through Romario Silva in the 79th minute.