Al-Wahda crosses Al-Sadd with three goals and reaches the final of the AFC Champions League for the Elite

Al-Wahda team reached the round of 16 of the AFC Elite Champions League after a valuable victory achieved this evening, Tuesday, over its guest, Al-Sadd, Qatar, with a score of 3-1, in the match that was held at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi in the fifth round of the continental competition.

“The Excellencies” raised their score to 13 points at the top of the West Asian groups, one point ahead of Al-Hilal, which has a postponed match, which makes Al-Wahda’s remaining three matches, against Al-Gharafa of Qatar and Al-Ahly and Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, a win after ensuring qualification.

Serbian star Dusan Tadic emerged as the first man of the match after scoring the team’s goals in the 55th and 65th minutes, then Caio Canedo added the third goal, “87”, after Al Sadd had opened the scoring through Brazilian Claudinho from a penalty kick, in stoppage time of the first half (45+3).

The start of the match went in favor of Al-Sadd, which put early pressure on Al-Wahda’s goal, until they received a penalty kick following a mistake committed by defender Alaa El-Din Zuhair while trying to clear Saiss’s header, and the ball hit his hand, so the Japanese referee, Ryo Tanimoto, pointed to the white point without hesitation.

After receiving the goal, Al-Wahda gradually succeeded in entering the atmosphere of the match, and Robin Philippe posed the first real threat with a shot from close range that was blocked by the Qatari goalkeeper.

In the second half, the Emirati team continued its offensive momentum, and Al-Sadd goalkeeper Mishal Barshim excelled in blocking a number of dangerous attempts, before Tadic was able to equalize after he received the ball inside the penalty area and shot it brilliantly into the visitors’ net.

Omar Kharbin wasted a valuable opportunity to give Al-Wahda the lead after a ball bounced to him from the goalkeeper before he fell without the referee calling for any violation, but Tadic returned to confirm his brilliance and snatch the winning goal from a follow-up to Kharbin’s pass, and confidently put it into the goal in the 66th minute.

Substitute Caio Canedo ended the Qatari team’s hopes by scoring the third goal after a perfect assist from Tadic.