Firmino scores, Al Sadd edge Tractor to stay in AFC Champions League | OneFootball

Al Sadd defeated Tractor FC 2-0 on Tuesday, keeping their hopes alive for a spot in the round of 16 of the AFC Champions League. The match took place in Iran, home of Tractor, the third-placed team in Group A. Brazilian Roberto Firmino found the net, reaching his 12th goal in 23 matches for the club.

Despite leading the Qatar Championship, Al Sadd had not been performing as well in the continental tournament and entered the field under pressure to win. After a balanced and goalless first half, the team decided the game in the final stage.

“We didn’t start very well”

The Qatari team struggled to open the scoring. In the 16th minute of the second half, Akram Afif set up Spanish player Rafa Mújica to open the score. In the final minutes, at 44, Claudinho found Firmino in the area, and the Brazilian completed the play to seal the 2-0 victory. The goal was Firmino's second in the current edition of the AFC Champions League.

After the match, the forward highlighted the importance of the result. “We really didn’t start the competition very well, but we are on a recovery campaign. We knew the difficulties because Tractor had not lost yet and had the best defense in our group. But we played a very good second half and had the calmness to secure this victory that puts us among the eight teams advancing to the round of 16,” he commented.

Group situation

Group A has Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia leading with 19 points. Al Ahli, Firmino's former team and the current champion, is in second place with 14 points. Al Sadd is in eighth place in this classification, with 8 points, but remains in contention for one of the spots. In Group B, the leader is Vissel Kobe from Japan, with 16 points.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.