QSL
Al Sadd beat Al Duhail 3-0 in a 2020-21 season Ooredoo Cup’s postponed match from Round 1 (Group A) at the Qatar SC Stadium on Saturday.
Nam Tae-Hee (third minute), Saoud Al Nasr (11th minute) and Rodrigo Tabata (83rd minute) scored for Al Sadd, who rose to second position in the group with seven points, one less than Al Wakrah.
The game was postponed owing to both teams’ campaigns in the 2020 AFC Champions League.
Al Duhail remained last in Group A with three points ahead of the last and fifth round of group-stage action on 9th and 10th November.
Al Sadd’s other victory was against Al Khor (1-0). The Wolves had played out a 4-4 draw with Al Sailiya, while they lost 2-3 to Qatar SC.
Al Duhail only have their 1-0 win over Qatar SC to show for their efforts.
The Red Knights had lost to Al Sailiya and Al Wakrah by an identical 1-3 margin.
Both teams started the game with many Under-23 players (Al Duhail as many as eight and Al Sadd five).
Al Sadd overcame the straight red-card suspension to Abdulrahman Rashed a couple of minutes after Nam opened their scoring, as referee Meshari Al Shammari sent him off for fouling Yasen Abdullah who was rushing to the goal with only goalkeeper Jehad Mohammed in front.
Saoud then doubled the lead as Al Sadd dominated the exchanges.
In hindsight, Al Sadd reaped the rewards for going 2-0 up inside 11 minutes despite their numerical disadvantage. Their cause was also helped by the lack of experience of Al Duhail youngsters.
Al Duhail’s Salman Al Rumaihi missed a chance in the 14th minute as his shot, after being set up by Yasen, was blocked by the goalkeeper.
Salman was again denied by Jehad, while Al Sadd’s Ahmed Sayyar too had an opportunity as the first half drew to a close.
Al Sadd held fort in the second session, whereas Al Duhail struggled to make a breakthrough even as the game wore on. And Tabata curled in a free-kick past Al Duhail goalkeeper Ahmed Sofyan to round off the tally.