Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuwait City: Qadsia SC coach Antonio Puche lamented his side's poor finishing after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Bahrain's Al Hidd in the first leg of their AFC Cup quarter-final on Tuesday.
The home side enjoyed an excellent start at the Peace & Friendship Stadium as Bader Al Mutwa headed them into the lead after only four minutes.
But last year's runners-up were unable to build on to their advantage and tournament newcomers Al Hidd restored parity early in the second half when Nawaf Al Khaldi fired home the equaliser.
"In football, only goals matter and we failed to score from the different chances that we created today," said Puche. "We were the better side and we had several scoring chances but this wasn't enough for us to achieve the result that we were looking for.
"Al Hidd played with a defensive formation and they didn't give us much space and that's why we relied on crosses to create some chances and we scored our only goal from a cross.
"We have a decisive match in Manama now and we will try our best to get a good away result."
Al Hidd only need to avoid conceding a goal in the return game in Manama to advance and coach Chokri Bejaoui was pleased with his side's position at the midway point of the tie.
"We achieved a positive result in the first leg and now we will be the favourites in the second leg," said the Tunisian. "However, this result is not decisive and it could affect us although getting a draw against Qadsia SC is a good result.
"We played with certain tactics which helped us to stop the threat of our opponents while we relied on quick counter-attacks to score.
"The second leg while be much harder and both teams still have a chance to go through."
Match report: Qadsia SC 1-1 Al Hidd
Photo: WSG