Agencies/Riyadh
Al Sadd coach Hussein Ammouta, after his team’s 1-2 loss to Saudi’s Al Hilal, said that his team was more focussed on their next match in the Round of 16 and which is why they had rested a few players.
“The two sides put on a good match although Al Hilal created more chances,” said Al Sadd coach Lhossanine Ammouta. “We managed to give a rest to some of our players and the most important thing for us was to prepare for the next match in the round of 16.
“We had a good performance and the players gave their best as our main concern was to prepare for the next match. We made some mistakes and our left flank was weak which gave the advantage for our opponents to create many chances.”
Meanwhile Al Hilal coach Giorgos Donis declared his faith in his team after seeing them emerge victorious.
The win ensured Al Hilal finished on top of Group D ahead of the Qataris after both teams had already sealed their place in the knockout phase of the competition on Matchday Five.
Al Hilal will now be guaranteed to play the second leg of their Round of 16 clash later this month on home soil and their Greek coach was delighted with his team’s performance.
“We put in a good performance and I have full trust in my players, especially our defenders but the goals that we have conceded recently have been from free kicks,” he said. “We had a great performance and the win will give us a big boost.
“We made some mistakes tonight but I still have full confidence in my players and we will fix these mistakes. We showed good strength in the match and we hope that we can continue our good performances in the future.”
Al Hilal dominated the opening 30 minutes and opened the scoring through Yousef Al Salem before easing off to allow Al Sadd back into the game.
Al Sadd equalised in the 32nd minute when Hassan Al Haydos scored from the penalty spot after Grafite was fouled in the area, but Kasola’s own goal in the 69th minute sealed a deserved win for the 2014 runners-up.
