El Jaish’s Rami Fayez (third from left) is congratulated by his team-mates after he scored the second goal of the AFC Champions League match against Saudi Arabian team Al Fateh in Doha yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

By Sports Reporter/Doha


It was a mixed bag of results for two countries in the AFC Champions League group stage matches yesterday. Qatar’s El Jaish beat Saudi Arabia’s Al Fateh 2-0 at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha to maintain their run at the top of Group B. In the other match involving these two countries, it was Saudi Arabia who came out on top with Al Hilal thrashing Qatar’s Al Sadd 5-0 at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.     
El Jaish had been unbeaten in their previous seven AFC Champions League games with four wins and three draws. And they were up against a team who had yet to score a goal in their campaign so far. In fact, they were the only team in the competition without a goal after three games. And the Qatar side were eager to keep that record intact.
El Jaish controlled the game right from the start and put pressure on their nervous opponents. The Qatar club was missing the services of their Brazilian centreback Anderson Martins through suspension and midfielders Wissam Rizik and Mohamed Muntari through injury but the rest of the team stepped up and delivered the result which took them to the top of the standings.
The first goal came through a penalty scored by Nilmar in the 59th minute. Al Fateh defender Badr al-Nakly was adjudged to have handled in the penalty area and Nilmar gave Jaish the lead with a calm and composed finish.
The first half ended with that score line. The second half saw the Saudi club trying to build the game through the midfield but they couldn’t penetrate the El Jaish defence which has conceded only one goal in this competition so far. There were a few moments in the second half when Al Fateh threatened to score the equalizer but they never got too close. The result was sealed by substitute’s Rami Fayez’s goal in the 89th minute. With this win El Jaish now have a great chance to qualify for the Round of 16.
In the other match, Al Sadd, the 2011 AFC Champions League winners, had an outing to forget. Playing away from home and without the services of their skipper Raul and defender Ibrahim Majed through injury, and midfielder Hassan Al Haydos through suspension, the Qatar club should have emerged with a better result against the Saudi club who had been winless in the competition before this match.
But inspired by the vociferous crowd support, it was Al Hilal who burst out of the blocks and surged into a 3-0 lead by the 34th minute. Al Sadd conceded a penalty as early as the third minute which Yasser al-Qahtani duly converted.
Sultan al-Deayea added to the club’s tally in the 28th minute and then it was the turn of Nasser al-Shamrani to score the first of his goals in the 34th minute.
Al Sadd never recovered from this barrage and even though they were the ones with the majority of the possession at the end of the first half, the three-goal deficit looked too big a hurdle to cross.
In the second half, their search for goals only exposed their defence further and al-Shamrani scored two more goals (58th minute and 62nd minute) to claim a great hat-trick. Though just a loss wouldn’t have hurt Al Sadd’s standings in the table, the five-goal thrashing meant that they have now dropped to third on goal difference. They will have to pull up their socks in the remaining two matches if they are to qualify from this group.
In today’s matches, Qatar’s Al Rayyan take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, Doha looking to revive their chances in this tournament. The previous match between these two Group A clubs was a thrilling affair with the Saudi club walking away victorious with a 4-3 scoreline.
“We will be hoping to make a good comeback after the previous defeat. The players are ready for the match and we are in good shape, mentally and physically, to get the three points,” said Al Rayyan coach Manuel Jimenez.
“The match is decisive for us. We must win if we want to get back into contention. Al Shabab are a good side,” he added.
In the other match, Qatar’s Lekhwiya will play an away match against Saudi giants Al Ittihad. The Qatar club are currently second in group C behind Al Ain. They defeated Umm Salal last Friday to win the Qatar Stars League title for the third time in their five-year history.
“We will be missing a couple of players but this doesn’t mean that we don’t have suitable replacements. The players are all motivated to win against Al Ittihad, who are a strong team and who have huge support from their fans,” said Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets.
This is a closely fought group with just three points separating the top and the bottom club and both teams playing today will be keen to get those precious three points.