Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
El Jaish ensured there will be a full complement of four clubs from Qatar in the Group Stages of the AFC Champions League with a straightforward 3-0 win over Kuwait's Qadsia Sports Club in the final qualifier at Qatar Sports Club Stadium on Saturday.
The game’s opener came via new signing Nilmar(Nilmar Honorato da Silva) on 36 minutes and in the second half goals from first Mohammed Muntari on 63 minutes and then Mohamed Sayed, with five minutes remaining, settled the tie.
Having now secured back-to-back AFC Champions League appearances, El Jaish join two-time semi-finalists Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan, Saudi League champions Al Fateh and Foolad Khouzestan of Iran in Group B of this year’s competition.
“We had a big victory thanks to our players who followed their instructions and applied good pressure on our opponents with several attacks from deep and on the wings,” said El Jaish coach Nabil Maaloul.
“It is good to qualify to the group stage of the AFC Champions League but the next period is really hard because we will be playing 12 matches in two months.
“We will try our best to have a good performance in the competition and go as far as we can.”
El Jaish had the upper hand right from the kickoff and the home team dominated proceedings, creating several openings before they eventually took the lead in the 36th minute through Brazilian forward Nilmar.
Transferred from domestic rivals Al Rayyan at the end of January, the Brazilian showed his pedigree with a powerful left-foot strike on the far left side past Qadsia SC goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi, after being teed up by strike-partner Jires Kembo-Ekoko.
The hosts continued their pressure in the second period and continued to expose the Kuwaiti backline while Qadsia SC tried to respond on the counter but without creating any clear opportunities.
And a few minutes past the hour mark, El Jaish made their pressure tell with a second goal with Kembo-Ekoko again involved in the move.
This time the Congolese saw his powerful shot from inside the area deflected only as far as the lurking Muntari, who was in the right place to return the ball with interest and volley past the Qadsia SC custodian.
With just five minutes to go, two El Jaish substitutes combined to effectively end the contest. Brazilian playmaker Wagner Ribeiro’s driven shot was parried out by Al Khaldi only as far as Sayed, an earlier replacement for the injured Nilmar, who steered the bouncing ball into the empty net for the third and final goal of the match.
“I'm personally satisfied with the performance of my team despite the heavy defeat tonight. We had a good performance throughout the match but the quick pace of El Jaish surprised us and confused our players,” said Qadsia SC coach Mohammed Ebrahim.
“The speed of their strikers and superior ball movement helped them to score three goals while we deserved to score at least one goal but we lacked the necessary experience.”
Photo: WSG