Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Manama: Nigerian forward Akarandut Orok fired Al Hidd towards the last 16 of the AFC Cup as the Bahraini side beat Qadsia SC of Kuwait 3-2 at the National Stadium in Manama on Tuesday.
Needing a victory to assure themselves of a spot in the knockout stage on their AFC Cup debut, Al Hidd took the lead twice in the first half through Abdulwahab Al Malood and Abdulla Baba only to be pegged back on each occasion by a brace from Soud Al Mejmed.
But Orok restored their lead for a third time after the interval and his goal ultimately proved decisive as Al Hidd hung on for the win, which put them out of reach of third-placed Al Shorta of Iraq.
Despite their defeat, Qadsia hung on to top spot in Group C and they will now face Group A runners-up That Ras of Jordan in the Round of 16. Al Hidd finished second and they will meet Lebanese side Safa, the Group A winners, in the last 16.
“The match today was open and that is why five goals were scored,” said Al Hidd coach Khalifa Al Zayani. “We tried our best to take advantage from our chances and we successfully scored three goals which gave us a good victory.
“After scoring the third goal, we asked the players not to go forward too much as we wanted to maintain our lead. We will try our best in order to fix the defensive mistakes that we made today which cost us two goals.”
Ali Al Hamad made a fine fingertip save to deny Abdulla Al Saqer early on but the Qadsia goalkeeper was give no chance in the 11th minute when Al Malood brought down a high cross on the right of the Qadsiya box and cut inside before firing the ball across Al Hamad into the far corner of the net.
The visitors responded with a spell of concerted pressure which was finally rewarded in the 32nd minute when Saoud Al Ansari floated in an inviting cross from the left for an unmarked Al Mejmed to head home.
The hosts would regain the lead eight minute later as Sayed Adnan lofted the ball towards the middle of the Qadsia box where Baba was on hand to head home.
But on the stroke of half time, the Kuwaiti side got back on level terms as the ball was cut back from the right by-line for Al Mejmed to slot home easily from the top of the box.
Both teams continued to show their attacking intent in the second half and the hosts would take the lead for a third time in the 61st minute when a deep cross from the right found an unmarked Orok, who appeared to take a heavy first touch but slid the ball past Al Hamad as the goalkeeper attempted to cut out the angle at his near post.
Qadsia pressed for a third equalised and Al Hidd goalkeeper Abbad Ahmed had to make an excellent save deep into stoppage time to keep out an effort by Talal Al Amer.
“Al Hidd deserved to win today. We made many mistakes which affected us and that gave the chance for our opponents to win,” said Qadsia SC coach Mohammad Ebrahim.
“The players didn’t give a good performance because they were tired from the matches that they have been playing.
“We lost tonight but we still finished top of the group. We rested some players while their replacements gave a good performance and created many scoring chances but they failed to take advantage of those chances to score more goals.”