ACL: Al Nassr beat Al Sadd to qualify for Round of 16

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) AFC Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr qualified for the AFC Champions League Round of 16 as Group D winners, leapfrogging Qatar's Al Sadd SC into top spot with a 2-1 win at King Saud University Stadium yesterday. Goals from Abderrazak Hamdallah and Abdulelah Al Amri either side of halftime put the group hosts within sight of the knockout stage, before Santi Cazorla made for a nervy finale when he pulled a goal back from the penalty spot with seven minutes remaining. While Al Nassr can look forward to September's Round of 16, Al Sadd will need to wait until tonight to see if their final tally of 10 points will be good enough for them to qualify as one of the best three runners-up. With both sides assured of a top two finish before the match, the equation couldn't have been simpler: Win on the night and qualify for the Round of 16 as group winners, lose and settle in for an uncomfortable 24-hour wait, and it was Al Nassr who started the stronger. They could have been ahead as early as the sixth minute, with Hamdallah missing the target with a header after he latched onto Sultan Al Ghannam's cross - the first of several pivotal first half moments involving the prolific Moroccan striker. It was Hamdallah who powered the hosts into the lead in the 33rd minute, but the goal owed plenty to a disastrous error from Al Sadd goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham, whose botched clearance went directly into the path of the 2020 ACL Golden Boot winner, who seized the opportunity to slam home his fourth of the tournament from 15 yards. The Hamdallah show continued five minutes before the break, but there was a twist to the plot this time as he squandered a gilt edged chance to double the lead, missing a gaping net after Noureddine Amrabat had sprinted into the box to create the opportunity. Al Sadd slowly but surely began to ask more questions of the hosts after the interval, with Cazorla forcing Waleed Abdullah into only his second save of the night when the Al Nassr shot-stopper got down to deny the Spaniard in the 70th minute. But that momentum was abruptly halted when Al Nassr found the allimportant second goal four minutes later, with Al Amri rising high to steer Amrabat's free-kick delivery into the net and Mano Manezes' men edged closer to the last 16. Al Sadd found a glimmer of hope when Ali Al Lajami hauled down Yusuf Abdurisag just inside in the penalty area, with Cazorla raising the stakes by slotting the subsequent spot-kick but, despite a dramatic final few minutes - which included Al Sadd boss Xavi being sent off - Al Nassr held on to claim the crucial three points they needed to advance.MENAFN30042021000063011010ID1102005580