Qatar big guns Al Sadd and Al Duhail have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Amir Cup, dashing the hopes of two second division teams in their round of 16 clashes yesterday.
While Al Sadd accounted for Al Kharaitiyat 3-1 thanks to Baghdad Bounedjah’s brace, defending champions Al Duhail posted a 4-0 win over Muaither with their new North Korean recruit Han Kwang Song scoring two of them.
Both victories however can be hardly classified as convincing or even particularly thrilling. While Al Sadd huffed and puffed, Al Rayyan were restricted to just one goal by Muaither in the second half after having conceded three in the last five minutes of the first session.
Song, the 21-year-old North Korean striker played for Perugia in the Italian Serie A before joining Juventus where he didn’t get a game and was relegated to their reserve team. He was sold to Al Duhail during the January transfer window.
The ambidextrous forward was playing his first match for Al Duhail and put up an impressive show, scoring two goals in a matter of as many minutes at the Abdulla bin Khalifa Stadium.
Defensive laxity contributed to both goals but Song’s fine dribbling skills and sense of timing were pretty obvious. He first struck from close in the 42nd minute after receiving a pass from the left and hoodwinking a defender and scored the second two minutes later in similar fashion – except the pass this time came from the right.
The panic in the Muaither defence was palpable and they let in another goal two minutes later, with Almoez Ali scoring from a tight angle from outside the box off a corner.
Muaither tightened their defences in the second half, but Mohamed Muntari punished them for a rare mistake when their backline moved upwards exposing the goalie. The goal was cleared after a VAR decision following a protest for offside by Muaither.
Earlier, Al Sadd had a dream start to their last 16 encounter when Abdelkarim Hassan put the reigning QNB Stars League champions ahead after just 54 seconds.
With the Kharaitiyat defence all over the pitch, Hassan headed in from Hashim Ali’s cross from the right. Kharaitiyat, however, had a chance to draw level in the 14th minute when they were awarded a penalty for a foul by Hamed Ismail in the box but Rachid Tiberkanine’s spot kick hit the post.
Tiberkanine made amends though in the 20th minute though, with the Moroccan striker unfurling a superb free-kick from the edge of the box.
Al Sadd soon restored their one-goal advantage, with Bounedjah scoring in the 25th minute. Ali Asad deftly lifted the ball into the box for Bounedjah, who headed in past Al Kharaitiyat keeper Shehab Mamdouh.
Salem al-Hajri thought he had made it 3-1, when he scored in the 48th minute but the referee after a VAR review ruled out the goal for a foul in the build-up. To make it worse for al-Hajri, he sustained an Achilles tear and later Sadd confirmed he will miss the rest of the season.
Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez brought it Nam Tae-hee and Akram Afif, in place of Abdulaziz al-Ansari and Yasir Abubakar, as the Wolves looked to score another goal to secure the result. And Afif duly provided an assist for Bounedjah to score in the 82nd minute as Sadd secured the result.
Xavi was delighted with the performance of his players. “I’m happy to win and qualify (for the quarter-finals) after playing a very difficult match against Al Kharaitiyat,” he said.
“We faced an organised team. We played a good match; we made some changes in the team, with our thoughts on the upcoming AFC Champions League game. It was possible to score more goals, but after the third goal, we clinched the game in our favour,” the Spaniard said.
On the injury of midfielder Salem al-Hajri, Xavi said: “Salem al-Hajri suffered an Achilles tear and will be absent for a long time. The season is over for him. He is an excellent player and he was at his best levels recently. We will miss him a lot, especially as he was helping the team in a big way.”
Akram Afif is all smiles as he celebrates with teammates after Al Sadd’s victory over Al Kharaitiyat. At right, Al Duhail’s North Korean striker Han Kwang Song (R) is congratulated by Sultan al-Brake after scoring against Muaither. PICTURES: Noushad and Anas
