AFP/Riyadh
Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi was left to rue his team’s mistakes as the Qatar Stars League champions slipped to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Al Hilal in the first leg of the 2015 AFC Champions League quarter-final meeting on Tuesday.
Youssef Msakni found the back of the net for the Doha-based club to level the scores in the 17th minute after Ailton had given Al Hilal following an error by goalkeeper Amine Lecomte. But a pair of goals from Carlos Eduardo and a fine finish from Khalid Kaabi ensures the Saudis are now favourites to advance to the semi-finals of the continental club championship.
“Al Hilal were the better side in the match, they were more ready than us and this affected the final result of the match,” Belmadi, Qatar national team’s former coach, said. “We made many mistakes which affected us in the back and you can’t make such mistakes when playing in the AFC Champions League.”
Lekhwiya went behind after just 11 minutes when Lecomte dawdled in his own penalty area while in possession and his eventual attempt to clear the ball was deflected into the Qatari club’s goal by Ailton.
Msakni levelled the scores six minutes later with a fine finish after being put through on goal by Nam Tae-hee and, in the 33rd minute, Luiz Junior missed a fine opportunity to put Lekhwiya ahead, only to hit the side netting.
Within seconds Al Hilal had raced to the other end of the pitch, with Kaabi scoring from the tightest of angles before Eduardo doubled his side’s advantage in the 37th minute.
Al Hilal always looked the more likely team to score again in the second half and, with four minutes remaining, Eduardo notched up his second of the game with another finish from inside the six-yard box to put the Saudis in an almost unassailable position.
“We had a close chance to score when the result was 1-1 but we failed to take advantage,” said Belmadi. “From the resulting counter attack, Al Hilal took the lead and this was the turning point in the match as things could have been different had we scored that chance.
“The match was difficult for us and the players didn’t have the performance that we expected. I hope that we can have a better performance in the second leg and fight for the chance that we have to remain in the competition.”
Meanwhile, Al Hilal coach Georgios Donis lauded his team’s display. “I want to congratulate the players as we played in difficult conditions whether it was the weather or playing without the support of our fans,” the Greek coach said. “The players showed an excellent performance and we got a big win.”
“We started the match without concentration as we gave them a chance to level the scores and they nearly scored another goal,” said Donis. “However, we finished the first half with a good lead which helped us to go into the second period with less pressure. We made many mistakes in the first half but we fixed things in the second period and scored a fourth goal which ended the match. I hope that we will have another good performance in the second leg in Doha.”
Both the teams will meet again in the Qatar capital on September 15.
Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi
