Doha, 4 April 2021 - Al Sadd got back to winning ways by beating Al Gharafa 2-0 in Week 20 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday.
Nam Tae-Hee (16th minute) and Santi Cazorla (65th-minute penalty) scored the goals.
Al Sadd, who were crowned as this season’s champions after the Week 18 action for a record-extending 15th time in their history by taking an unassailable lead over their rivals, moved on to 54 points with their 17th victory, the most by any team.
Al Gharafa stood on 30 points following their ninth loss.
Al Gharafa had played their Week 21 match against Al Wakrah and lost by a 0-2 margin on 16th March.
The Al Gharafa vs Al Wakrah match was originally scheduled for 6th April along with other Week 21 games, but was rescheduled in view of Al Gharafa’s play-off with Uzbekistan’s FC AGMK in Doha on 7th April, 2021, for a berth in the 2021 AFC Champions League group stage.
The Cheetahs are having a bad patch, having lost 0-3 to Al Rayyan in the 2020-21 season Ooredoo Cup semifinal recently.
Al Sadd, who were held 1-1 by Al Wakrah in Week 19, thus remained as the only unbeaten side in the tournament.
The Wolves, who rested their international players who were on duty recently, adopted a cautious approach in the first half. However, they succeeded in taking the lead as Nam capitalised on a chipped through pass by Cazorla and sent the ball home past an advancing goalkeeper Yousef Hassan.
Al Gharafa created two chances in the first half, but Sofiane Hanni and Ahmed Al Janahi both sent their shots wide of the target.
Al Sadd unleashed attacks from the start of the second half.
Yousef Abdulrazaq missed a chance in the 46th minute and, two minutes later, Rodrigo Tabata’s effort was saved by Al Gharafa defender Homam Al Ameen even as the goalkeeper was out of his charge.
Al Sadd brought in Baghdad Bounedjah and Ali Asad in place of Hosam Kamal and Yousef Abdulrazaq.
Al Sadd then went 2-0 up. The penalty was awarded when substitute Saeed Al Hajj 'handled' the ball and Cazorla sent Yousef the wrong way, though with a feeble kick.
Action soon hotted up as shots by Nam first and Cazorla off the rebound were blocked by the goalkeeper.
At the other end, Hanni missed a sitter as Al Sadd goalkeeper Motaz Barsham thwarted him.
And the scoreline remained the same.
Al Sadd had beaten Al Gharafa 4-1 in the first leg of 2020-21 season QNB Stars League.
