(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Chinthana Wasala I The Peninsula
Doha: A brilliant spot kick by Algerian goal machine Baghdad Bounedjah sealed Qatari giants Al Sadd's place in the AFC Champions League (ACL) semi-finals when they fought back to eliminate Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr.
The Qatari giants finished with 4-3 aggregate to qualify for the next stage. The first leg which took place in Riyadh saw Al Sadd losing the match 2-1. Yesterday Xavi Hernandez -coached side fought back to register a thumping 3-1 win before the home crowd.
At the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in front of a full house, Akram Afif and captain Hassan Al Haydos gave them a 2-1 lead before Bounedjah, top scorer from last year's continental tournament, finished off with a well-directed kick to the bottom left corner of the Al Nassr net to seal a win.
Afif scored in the 26th minute while Al Haydos added the second one in the 59th minute while the third goal for Al Sadd came in the 83rd minute while the visitors came in the 33rd minute through
This is the Wolves' second year in a row at the ACL, following a strong run at the previous edition under the captaincy of Spanish legend Xavi Hernandez.
This time, the Barca great was off the field, coaching the Qatari champions.
Having won each of their four home games in the competition so far, Xavi's Al Sadd needed to extend the run if they were to secure a last-four place, having lost 2-1 in Riyadh.
From the start, Al Sadd made their intentions clear as skipper Al Haydos came close to finding an early opener on several occasions.
It was Afif who got on the scoresheet running for third time in Al Sadd's last four games.
The midfielder started an attacking move down the right, supplying Bounedjah who released Nam Tae-hee down the left and the Korean crossed for Afif who was left with the simplest of headers to put Al Sadd in front
The visitors needed no more than seven minutes to get back into the game after Abderrazak Hamdallah was fouled at the edge of the Al Sadd penalty box.
The Moroccan stepped up and took the resulting free-kick himself, his strike took a deflection off Gabi and nestled into the back of the net, leaving the goalkeeper wrongfooted and helpless to rescue.
Al Haydos scored the pick of the goals in the 59th minute. As Al Nassr attempted to build from deep, the midfielder intercepted a forward pass and exchanged passes with Nam before hitting a thunderous strike with the outside of the boot that flew into the top corner, beating Jones to level the scores on aggregate.
With just 10 minutes left on the clock, a perfectly weighted first-time through pass from Al Haydos set up a one-on-one chance for Afif, and before he could apply the finish, the Qatari international was brought down by Abdullah Madu, prompting the referee to point to the spot.
It was the perfect opportunity for Bounedjah to end a four-match AFC Champions League goal drought, and the Algerian duly delivered, burying his shot from 12 yards out into the bottom corner to win the tie 4-3 for Al Sadd.
The Qatari side await the winners of today's clash between Saudi rivals Al Hilal and Al Ittihad. The first leg of the semi-finals takes place in Doha on October 1, with the return leg in Saudi three weeks later.
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