Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Muscat: A goal deep into added time by Brahima Keita took Kuwait’s Qadsia SC into the second round of qualifying for the 2014 AFC Champions League after they secured a narrow 1-0 win over Oman champions Al Suwaiq at Muscat’s Seeb Sports Complex on Sunday.
In a fixture that the Kuwaiti side controlled for long spells, it took until the fourth minute of stoppage time for Cote d’Ivoire defender Keita to end Al Suwaiq’s brave resistance with a powerful header from Hamad Aman’s corner.
Despite goalkeeper Faiyz Al Rusheidi’s heroics between the posts for the home side, Qadsia will go on to face a contest with United Arab Emirates side Baniyas in the next stage of the AFC Champions League play-offs.
“I didn’t expect that Al Suwaiq will have such a good performance as they caused a lot of problems for our side who didn’t have an easy match and we had to fight in order to win and advance to the next stage,” said Qadsia coach Mohammed Ebrahim.
Coach Ebrahim's side began the half on the front foot and dominated the tempo of the game along with possession of the ball, orchestrated by influential skipper Saleh Al Sheikh but they were repeatedly thwarted by Oman national team custodian Al Rusheidi.
Al Suwaiq, meanwhile, were wary of playing too openly with their 5-1 home defeat to the same opponents in the 2012 AFC Cup still fresh in the mind, and they looked to soak up the pressure and hit their opponents on the counter.
A goalless first half made way for a second period that saw the pattern continue albeit with the home side raising their performance levels and beginning to test Qadsia goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi.
And Al Suwaiq went closest to snatching victory with just three minutes remaining as forward Hassan Rabia’s header from a long ball from the back careened off the crossbar with Al Khaldi beaten.
But in the fourth minute of added time it was Al Qadsia who scored the winning goal as Keita met Aman’s corner with a header to ripple the net and break Al Suwaiq hearts.
“We were not lucky tonight as we were hoping to win and continue our run in the competition but this is football at the end of the day,” said Al Suwaiq coach Musabah Al Saadi. “I’m satisfied and happy with the performance of the players who had a great match tonight against a tough opponent.
“Qadsia took advantage of one clear chance while we missed several chances and we could have scored from these chances. We were not lucky but I’m happy that we had a good performance despite the disappointing defeat.”
Photo: WSG