Al Sadd captain Hassan al-Haydos expressed his delight after his side defeated Al Duhail 4-1 to reach the Amir Cup final at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Saturday.
Holders Duhail opened the scoring in the 10th minute through Edmilson, before Sadd responded with four goals in the second half, scored by Khoukhi Boualem (58th minute), Guilherme (64?), Baghdad Bounedjah (77?) and Rodrigo Tabata (88?). The result saw Sadd qualify for the title decider against Al Arabi, in what will be the 26th Amir Cup final in the club’s history.
 “It was a very wonderful game, and we managed to come back after conceding a goal in the first half. We responded with four goals in the second half, and we created many dangerous opportunities,” al-Haydos said.
“We had possession of the ball from the start of the match and had an advantage despite Al Duhail taking a one-goal lead. We did not lose hope and managed to come back into the game with the equalising goal. After that, we played better in attack and succeeded in scoring four goals to get a well-deserved win, with a great performance from everyone,” he added.
Sadd defender Abdelkarim Hassan too praised the team’s performance. “We conceded an early goal in the match, but we remained steady and were able to respond strongly in the second half. We scored four goals to get a deserved victory after the excellent display, and the second half in particular. The fans of the club always push us and give us the motivation to get victories and to give our best.”
“We had the superiority and we controlled the game. We had many opportunities to increase the score, but four goals were enough to secure our ticket to the final, and to get closer to the prestigious trophy,” he added.
Duhail coach Sabri Lamouchi conceded Sadd were superior team on the night and rued ‘small mistakes’ committed by his side. “Sadd were better overall. We began the match with a good plan and were able to score first. But in the second half, we committed a number of small mistakes that Sadd took advantage of,” he said.
“We are not happy after our second straight loss to Sadd, but I must admit they are the best team right now.  There is no room for comparison between the two teams. Unfortunately we did not work enough and we were far from the out best,” the Duhail coach added.