Abu Dhabi, November 25 (QNA) - Al Wahda FC of the UAE defeated Al Sadd 3-1 in their AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26 encounter at Al Nahyan Stadium on Tuesday.
With Al Hilal SFC defeating Al Shorta, the win means the UAE side booked their Round of 16 spot with three matches to spare while Qatar's Al Sadd remain mired in the lower half of the standings with two points, the AFC website reported.
The visitors produced a couple of openings early on, Tarek Salman's overlapping run created a shooting opportunity for Paulo Otavio which he sent over before Roberto Firmino's lobbed attempt went off target.
Firmino's involvement, however, was curtailed in the 33rd minute with last season's Most Valuable Player subbed off with an injury and replaced by Rafael Mujica.
Such was Al Sadd's dominance, albeit without giving Al Wahda custodian Mohamed Alshamsi much to do, that Omar Khrbin, Dusan Tadic and Brahima Diarra saw little of the ball in a subdued first half for the home side.
The tie changed in an instance in favour of Al Sadd in the third minute added time after Ala Zhir used his arm to block Roman Saiss' header, giving referee Ryo Tanimoto no choice but to point to the penalty spot with Claudinho blasting home the spot-kick.
Al Wahda had a chance to draw level in an extended opening half through Ruben Canedo in the 12th minute of added time but Meeshal Barsham got down quickly to his left to save the point-blank effort.
A rejuvenated Al Wahda took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half with substitutes Facundo Kruspzky and Abdulqader Abdulla giving the home side more bite in attack.
Kruspzky forced Barsham to make a great save with his long distance strike before Abdulla recovered an overhit cross to set up Tadic for a fantastic finish on the turn to level things up in the 55th minute.
Al Wahda took full advantage of Pau Prim's slip in the 66th minute to edge ahead with Khribin snapping up the loose ball and driving towards goal before squaring for Tadic to confidently sidefoot home.
The points were sealed for the United Arab Emirates side in the 87th minute, Tadic turning provider this time by lofting a pass for Caio Canedo who steered his effort past Barsham. (QNA)