Youssef Msakni scored on his second Al Duhail debut to cancel out Akram Afif’s opener for Al Sadd as the two Qatari sides played out a 1-1 draw at Al Janoub Stadium in the first leg of the 2019 AFC Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday.
Al Sadd, however, will be the happier of the two with the result as they took away a crucial away goal ahead of next week's return leg.
The winners will face either Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia or Al Wahda of the UAE in the quarter-finals.
Winger Masakni returned to Al Duhail this summer after a loan spell at KAS Eupen. And there were also debuts for Nam Tae-hee who swapped sides, joining Al Sadd from Al Duhail and for 19-year-old Mohanad Ali on the other side. Al Sadd boss Xavi also made his managerial debut on the night.
Al Duhail’s night started with an early blow as star defender Medhi Benatia hobbled off with an injury 18 minutes into the match. Replacing him was Qatari international Bassam Al Rawi who nearly made an instant impact, but he curled his free-kick just over the crossbar from his first touch of the ball.
Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb waited until the 24th minute to make his first save, when he dived low to catch Mohammad Musa’s header from Ali Afif’s out-swinging corner-kick.
The stalemate was finally ended at the half-hour mark and it was Al Sadd’s Akram Afif who drew first blood. A misplaced Mohammed Muntari pass was collected by Jung Woo-young who caught the Al Duhail defence napping, sending an overhead pass for Afif to cut inside and drill into the back of the net, beating goalkeeper Amine Lecomte at his near post.
Source: The AFC
