Al Sadd Start As Favourites Against Al Wehdat in Key Group D Clash
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Najmul, Mominul QatarTribune Qatar_Tribune share record QatarTribuneChannel qatar_tribune stand as Bangladesh call the shots vs Sri Lanka in Kandy Test PAGE 11 FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 Al Duhail coach Lamouchi hails Olunga wonder show in AFC Champions League sizzler against Esteghlal AFC JEDDAH AL Duhail SC head coach I can’t find the words to Sabri Lamouchi praised Ken- describe this exciting yan forward Michael Olunga match. (Michael) Olunga whose hat-trick steered the deserves, of course, to be Qatari side to an exciting 4-3 the man of the match. He’s win against Islamic Republic of Iran’s Esteghlal FC in the a special player and his 2021 AFC Champions League presence has helped us on Wednesday. have a lot of attacking Man-of-the-match Olunga options. struck in the 10th, 27th and 85th minutes in an absorbing Group Al Duhail coach C tie which saw both sides ex- Sabri Lamouchi changing leads at the King Ab- dullah Sports City Stadium. had only one chance and they It was a crucial win for Al scored from it. We made some Duhail as the win meant they individual mistakes in our de- leapfrogged Esteghlal into fence and we should try to fix top spot on seven points, one Michael Olunga celebrates one of his three goals against Esteghlal FC in the Group C AFC Champions Al Duhail coach Sabri Lamouchi applauds his team from the sidelines. these mistakes. ahead of the Iranians at the League fixture played at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah on Wednesday. “Al Duhail played with midway stage. the first half.” tactical and physical contest,” good balance in defence and An overjoyed Lamouchi match press conference. “I us have a lot of attacking op- three goals but we managed to Esteghlal FC head coach said Majidi. “I want to thank attack, and their coach im- paid tribute to Olunga’s want to thank the players for tions,” said Lamouchi of the get our heads together and re- Farhad Majidi said both teams the players for the good fight- plemented that very well. We masterclass. their excellent performance.” 2020 J1 League’s top scorer cover mentally. In the second had an excellent match but felt ing spirit they have and the were good up front but we “I can’t find the words to “Olunga deserves, of who now leads the 2021 AFC half, we tried our best to main- Al Duhail’s good balance tilted performance they showed to- made some mistakes which describe this exciting match course, to be the man of the Champions League scoring tain the strengths of the play- the tie in their favour. night.” cost us the three points.” and it is not easy to talk about match. He’s a special player charts with four goals. ers and that’s why we didn’t “The two sides had a very “We were the better team The two will square off it,” said Lamouchi in the post- and his presence has helped “Tonight we conceded have a similar performance to good match today and it was a in the first half while Al Duhail again on Saturday. Al Sadd start as favourites against Al Wehdat in key Group D clash AFC RIYADH THE onus is on Al Wehdat to secure all three points when they face Al Sadd SC again on Matchday Four of the 2021 AFC Champions League Group D fixture at 9pm on Friday. Al Wehdat started their debut campaign with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, but that was followed by defeats to Islamic Repub- Al Rayyan players during a training session in Goa. lic of Iran’s Foolad Khouz- estan FC (1-0) and Qatar’s Al Sadd (3-1) and another defeat would dash the Jordan side’s Al Rayyan out to revive hopes of advancing. Al Sadd have also endured a mixed campaign, needing This is another important a late goal to salvage a point match for us, and we’re hopes against Al Wahda against Foolad before being treating this like the final. comprehensively beaten by Al AFC have control in the beginning Nassr 3-1 on Matchday Two. From my experience, it’s GOA and at the end of the game. At The Qatar champions, difficult to win against the the moment we need a little bit however, rediscovered their same team twice in a row. AL Rayyan of Qatar and UAE’s of confidence and luck to win.” best form against Al Wehdat But we’ve been doing Al Wahda FSCC will both be Al Wahda went two match- on Monday and will be aiming desperate for victory when the es without scoring but having for another three points. well, especially in the two sides meet on Matchday found their shooting boots, ten Al Wehdat found the go- last game. Four in Group E of the 2021 Cate will be expecting his play- ing tough against Al Sadd, AFC Champions League at the ers to seal another three points conceding three first half goals Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at against Al Rayyan. but gave a better account of 8pm on Friday. The Al Wahda head coach’s themselves in the second half, experience, it’s difficult to win Al Rayyan began their AFC gamble to experiment with tac- with Ahmed Saleh scoring Al Sadd players during their match against Al Wehdat on Monday. against the same team twice in Champions League campaign tics in the second half against their first-ever AFC Cham- a row. with a goalless draw against Al Rayyan paid dividends, pions League goal and head has played three matches. ing three matches will be in “But we’ve been doing debutants FC Goa of India be- with the Dutchman’s decision coach Abdullah Abu Zema will “Our only hope is to win better situation, and I have well, especially in the last fore going on to suffer defeats Al Rayyan coach Laurent Blanc. to field several young players expect them to reproduce that the match, and get the three substitutes who are equal to game, where we did excellent against Islamic Republic of paying off handsomely. spirit. points and this is what we the starting players.” in the first half, and not so well Iran’s Persepolis FC (3-1) and advantage at the tail end of the “We won our last game be- Al Sadd are the favourites want. The other match be- Al Sadd head coach Xavi in the second half,” said Xavi. Al Wahda (3-2) to lie bottom match against Al Wahda. cause it had to do with the de- but if Al Wehdat can take the tween Al Nassr and Foolad said consistency would be key “In the first match, we of the group. If they can plug the holes at termination and mentality of game to the Qatar side, Zema last time finished with a draw, if Al Sadd are to progress to played well in the first 60 Monday’s thrilling win over the back, Blanc will feel that Al the players,” said ten Cate. “It is will feel his side may get their which kept everything open in the Round of 16 and the Span- minutes, and in the second Al Rayyan reignited Al Wahda’s Rayyan can defeat Al Wahda always something that I want to reward against one of Asia’s the group.” ish legend will urge his players match, we played better in hopes after Henk ten Cate’s side for their first win of the cam- see in my players and the match top sides. “In the previous matches to show the intensity they did the second half, then we opened their campaign with a paign and reignite their hopes. isn’t over till it’s over. “In the last match against we were organised in defence, in the first half against Al We- played brilliantly in the first 1-0 defeat to Persepolis and 0-0 “I will not change my tac- “The one who scores the Al Sadd we shared control, Al but we were not courageous in hdat on Monday. half of the last match. Now, draw with FC Goa to sit second tics against Al Wahda and we most wins the game. We had Sadd controlled in the first half attack,” Zema admitted. “And Al Sadd had 14 shots from our target is to play well for in the standings. will play with the same phi- a one goal at first and I saw in terms of performance and generally, we’ve always been inside the box against Al We- all 90 minutes. Al Rayyan felt they deserved losophy as we did in our first the energy level in the play- result, and scored three goals, better in the second half, but hdat and if they can play at “I expect tomorrow to be more in the matches against match,” said Blanc. ers began to drop. The tank then in the second half we we promise our fans that we the same level and get a win difficult because Al Wehdat Persepolis and Al Wahda, hav- “I think we deserved to win was running on empty, I saw dominated but wasted several will show a different Al We- on Friday, they will approach played well in the second half, ing taken the lead in both ties (against Al Wahda) on Tues- us getting tired but we got chances and only managed to hdat side in the next three their final two matches against and they’ll be for sure playing only to end up losing.