ACL R16: Al Sadd ties Foolad in Doha

AFC – DOHA, The AFC Champions League Round of 16 clash between Al Sadd of Qatar and Iranian league champions Foolad Khouzestan remains tantalisingly poised at the halfway mark after the two teams played out a goalless draw in the first leg in Doha on Wednesday.

In a game of few real chances, Chimba had a couple of fine efforts stopped by Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb while at the other end, Raul hit the woodwork when he tried to go direct for goal with an inswinging corner kick.

With both sides unable to find the net, there will be plenty to play for when they meet again in the return leg at the Ghadir Stadium in Ahwaz next week.

The first leg was a physical affair with few real opportunities for either side.

The visitors suffered a blow when Gholamreza Rezaei had to be taken off injured and replaced by Sasan Ansari after only 13 minutes.

Foolad midfielder Soroush Rafiei required lengthy treatment after he took an accidental knee to his face as he slid in to tackle Ibrahim Majed and he then found himself on then end of a bad tackle by Lee Jung-soo that earned the Korean defender a yellow card.

Brazilian striker Chimba had the best chance for the visitors in the first half when he received a lay-off from Ansari on the edge of the Al Sadd box in the 39th minute and unleashed a fierce shot that goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb did well to stop at his near post.

At the other end, Rodrigo Tabata shot narrowly wide in the 28th minute and former Spain international striker Raul struck the near post direct from a corner in first-half stoppage time.

The game did improve after the break with Khalfan Ibrahim testing Foolad goalkeeper Sousha Makani with a shot from distance six minutes into the second half.

At the other end, Omid Khaledi shot wide after he had lung-bursting run into the Al Sadd box while Al Sheeb was called into action again to keep out Chimba’s shot from distance.

Mohamed Kasola was fortunate to only receive a yellow card for a nasty stud-up challenge on the luckless Soroush Rafiei.
And Khalfan should have done much better when he sent clear by Raul but he contrived to screw his shot wide of the far post with only Makani to beat.

With 11 minutes left, Al Sheeb made a superb one-handed stop to keep out a stinging drive by Chimba, and the Brazilian then fired a scissors kick just over the crossbar from the resulting corner.