Al Sadd players celebrate after scoring a goal against Esteghlal during their AFC Champions League quarter-final (first leg) at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, yesterday.
TEHRAN: Feared striker Baghdad Bounedjah excelled with a brace as Al Sadd bounced back from an own goal to beat Iran’s Esteghlal 3-1 in the first leg of the Asian Champions League quarter-finals in Tehran, yesterday.
The Jesualdo Ferreira’s side held their nerves in an away match at Azadi Stadium by scoring three goals in the second half to take a big step towards the semi-finals.
Al Sadd, the 2011 champions began the game brightly but were dealt a blow in the 12th minute, conceding a goal through an unfortunate mistake.
A high ball into the Al Sadd box was headed down by Boualem Khoukhi for his keeper Meshaal Aissa to pick up, but the young custodian inadvertently let it slip past him to gift the hosts an opener.
Esteghlal maintained their lead right up to halftime, after surviving a scare in injury time when Akram Afif’s shot rebounded off the post to be gathered by Esteghlal keeper Mehdi Rahmati.
In the second half, Al Sadd came out of the tunnel looking for a way back into the game and were rewarded for their attacking intent with a goal at the hour mark following a well-worked move. After a fine one-two with Bounedjah, Afif beat his marker and finished past Rahmati to level the score.
Five minutes later, Bounedjah latched onto Xavi’s flicked through ball, made his way into the box, turned Mohammad Daneshgar inside out before slotting home Al Sadd’s second goal. Bounedjah then made it 3-1 for the Qataris in the 74th minute after winning and then converting the penalty, following a foul on him by Vouria Ghafouri.
Al Sadd will now take home a valuable advantage ahead of the return leg in Doha on September 17.
Meanwhile, Kashima Antlers and Tianjin Quanjian are aiming to reach the AFC Champions League semi-finals for the first time in their history ahead of the first leg of the quarter-finals at Kashima Soccer Stadium today.
Japan’s sole remaining representative on the continent, Kashima, have only once before appeared in the last eight – a decade ago, before the introduction of the Round of 16 – but will be looking to follow in the footsteps of countrymen Urawa Red Diamonds, who won the 2017 edition.
Tianjin, meanwhile, are the only Chinese side left in the competition and their debut appearance can already be considered a major success after suffering just one defeat in eight games en route to the quarter-finals.
Away wins over Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Sydney FC on Matchdays Two and Three set Kashima well on their way to a sixth knockout stage appearance as they sat top of Group H at the midway stage.
A point at home against Sydney then slowed progress, but the J.League side then wrapped up qualification with a 2-2 draw against Shanghai Shenhua as they progressed to their second successive Round of 16 with a game to spare. Kashima again faced opposition from Shanghai – in the form of SIPG – in the last 16, where Yuma Suzuki and Daigo Nishi scored in a 3-1 first-leg home win to mean they travelled to China with a two-goal lead to defend.
Despite falling behind early on in the return meeting, Shoma Doi calmed any nerves when he levelled shortly before half-time, and the eventual 2-1 defeat was enough to see Go Oiwa’s team through to only their second quarter-finals after advancing from the knockout rounds for the first time.
