(MENAFN- The Peninsula) A late goal by Ismaili Mohamad secured 10-man Lekhwiya a 2-2 draw with fellow Qatari side Al Sadd to win 4-3 on aggregate and move into the Asian Champions League quarter-finals for the second successive season yesterday.
Lekhwiya had a 2-1 advantage from the first leg in this all-Qatar Round of 16 clash, played at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium here.
Lekhwiya looked set to cruise to victory when they opened the scoring through Youssef Msakni in the 13th minute. But they were knocked out of their stride in the 34th minute when defender Ahmed Yasser was sent off for a second bookable offence for a foul on Khalfan Ibrahim.
Brazilian star Muriqui scored with a great strike from the resultant free kick and the tone of the match completely changed.
It was all Sadd after that as Lekhwiya tried to desperately defend their precious one-goal advantage.
However, Sadd breached their opponents defences in the 63rd minute, Sadd midfielder Ali Asadalla scoring with a calm and composed finish into the far corner after a great pass by Nadir Belhadj from the left wing.
Lekhwiya coach Michael Laudrup then brought on Mohamad to replace Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss in the 64th minute.
That move proved to be the master stroke as the Qatari striker provided the decisive goal.
The move arose from a failed Sadd attack, Lekhwiya skipper Karim Boudiaf made a run down the left flank crossed to Mohamad, who trapped the ball with his right foot and then fired the killer shot with his left.
Earlier, Yusuke Kobayashi netted a crucial second-half goal as Japan's Kashiwa Reysol staved off a comeback by Suwon Samsung FC to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in three years.
Kashiwa held a 3-2 lead from the first leg in South Korea but goals by Chong Te-se and Koo Ja-ryong put Suwon ahead on aggregate before Kobayashi struck in the 65th minute to level things up at 4-4 and send Kashiwa through on away goals.
There was better fortune for another Korean side as a 72nd minute goal by Brazilian striker Edu saw Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors beat Beijing Guoan 1-0 in China to advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Suwon pulled a goal back at Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium after 26 minutes through North Korea international forward Chong who received a long pass with his back to goal and swivelled to fire home an unstoppable effort.
The Korean side turned up the pressure after the interval with Kwon Chang-hoon and Seo Jung-jin forcing fine saves out of Takanori Sugeno but the Kashiwa goalkeeper was left helpless in the 54th minute when Koo fired home from close range after a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-0 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate for the visitors. The home side were stung into action and they got the crucial goal 11 minutes later after a fine pass by Cristiano set up his Brazilian compatriot Leandro who rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong but saw his shot blocked by a defender. The ball fell kindly to Kobayashi who fired into the roof of the net to put his team into the last eight.
At the Beijing Workers Stadium, the home side led on away goals against Jeonbuk after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Korea.
However, the K League Classic champions dominated play and took a deserved lead with 18 minutes left when Lee Jae-sung's first-time pass sent Edu clear and the Brazilian made no mistake as he slotted past goalkeeper Yang Zhi.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.