Alkass Digital
Al Wakrah held table toppers Al Sadd to a goalless draw in Week 14 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Al Janoub Stadium on Sunday.
Al Sadd had a golden chance to gain lead in the 70th minute of the match when they got a penalty kick, but star player Akram Afif, who was named Man of the Tournament at the AFC Asian Cup recently, made a rare miss by shooting over the bar.
The dramatic second-half action also saw Al Wakrah lose their goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater after being shown the red card as he ran down far outside the box to roughly tackle an advancing Afif.
Despite being down to 10 men, The Blue Wave managed to keep at bay The Wolves.
This was the second drawn result between the two sides in the league championship after a similar result in the first leg.
Al Sadd continue to lead the rankings, now with 32 points from 13 games, while Al Wakrah have a tally of 28 points, also from 13 matches.
The opening half of the match was comparatively more of an even tussle where The Blue Wave tried to make some openings, but were not able to find a good finish.
Their one big chance came in the 26th minute when attacking midfielder Jacinto Dala ran down the box, but was held by an Al Sadd defender with Dala’s kick failing to beat a charging goalkeeper. Dala made a feeble kick to the left, but Hamdi Fathi also could not get to the ball.
Ten minutes later, Al Sadd’s Baghdad Bounedjah latched on to a ball to dash in and score, but an Al Sadd player was already offside even before he could make the run.
The very next minute, Al Sadd’s Gonzalo Plata was brought down near the penalty area by Al Wakrah’s Lucas Sainsbury, who received a yellow card. The resulting free-kick, however, could not bring any result.
Later, Al Sadd’s Yusuf Abdurisag was in the striking zone, but his shot went wide to the right of the goal.
Post break, Al Sadd introduced their livewire Afif, replacing Gonzalo Plata, while Hassan Al Haydous came in for Moustafa Tarek.
The presence of the two big stars kept Al Wakrah on their toes and in the 46th minute, their Under-21 substitute Nabil Irfan was charged for pulling down Afif.
Minutes later, Al Sadd’s Guilherme Torres moved in clear, but shot just wide to the left of the goal post.
At the hour mark, Al Wakrah’s Omar Salah moved into Al Sadd’s danger area, but was physically tackled by Paulo Silva. The referee ruled no foul.
With Al Sadd now pushing hard, Al Wakrah bagged in defence, but in a goal-mouth melee a Torres shot found the top of the right hand of Fathi. After a VAR, the referee signalled to the spot in the 70th minute. Afif stepped up to take the kick, but shot over much to his team’s and fans’ dismay.
In the 76th minute, Al Wakrah goalkeeper dashed to contain a charging Afif, but felled him to be given the marching orders.
There were more close moments for either side, but none could succeed in breaking the deadlock. Al Sadd’s Torres made an attempt in added time, but his shot went over the bar.