Al Sadd's Gonzalo Plata is congratulated by a teammate after the Ecuadorian scored the winning goal.
Doha, Qatar: New recruit Gonzalo Plata came off the bench and struck a winner during the injury time for Al Sadd as the Qatar football giants kept their quarter-final hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over Al Hilal in Abha, yesterday.
In a gripping King Salman Cup encounter at the Prince Sultan Sports City Stadium, Al Sadd's previous goals were scored by Algerian striker Baghdad Bounedjah (40') and Qatar international Tareq Salman (50') before the Ecuadorian substitute Plata sealed the win with his late strike (90'+3).
For Al Hilal, Michael Richard and Salem Al-Dawsari scored in the 10th and 68th minutes respectively.
Action during the match between Al Sadd and Al Hilal.
The victory took Al Sadd to the top of Group B, having earlier involved in a goalless draw with Moroccan side Wydad in the opening round.
Wydad are second with two points in Group B, followed by Al Ahli Tripoli and Al Hilal in second and third spots respectively.
"We are happy with the victory. We performed wonderfully in front of a great team and in front of their fans," Al Sadd's assistant coach Emmanuel Avanti said during a post match press conference.
"We know the style of the Al Hilal coach and we tried in the first half to play a balanced game despite being a goal down,” he said.
Avanti pointed out that there are new players in the team who have not yet reached the stage of full adaptation.
“The team is developing from one game to another and all the new players are doing their best to integrate into the team,” he said.
Hilal went ahead in the 10th minute through Michel Richard. But Sadd struck just before the interval with prolific Baghdad Bounedjah finding the net. Sadd took the lead through after the break when Salman scoring in the 50th minute, but 18 minutes later Salem Al Dosari converted a penalty to draw Hilal level.
However, Sadd had the last laugh with unmarked Plata firing the loose ball off Bounedjah with a poor effort from Hilal goalkeeper Abdullah Al Mayouf helping the ball into the net. Plata, who signed a five-year deal with Sadd after joining from Spanish club Valladolid, had replaced Ali Asad in the 74th minute. Hilal controlled the possession from the start but Sadd grew into the game despite Richard’s strike had given home side the lead.
Al Sadd will next meet Al Ahli Tripoli in the third and final group stage match on August 2.
“It will be a difficult match, the Libyan team has a chance to qualify, and therefore we must work and prepare well for the match,” Avanti said.
