Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuwait City: Goals from Luay Salah and Mohammed Khalid ensured Arbil avenged their loss in last year’s final to Al Qadsia by ending their 2015 AFC Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over the defending champions.
The win was not enough to stop the Iraqis sliding out of the tournament as they missed out on one of the two berths in the Round of 16 from Group C and was just their second victory of the campaign.
“We were hoping to advance to the knockout stage but our two matches against Ahal FC cost us six points,” said Arbil team manager Omar Salim. “We were hoping to join Qadsia in the next round but this is football and we had several conditions that affected us.
“We were hoping to have a good end to our campaign and we successfully defeated Qadsia in an important away match. I hope that the players can learn from the competition for the future and hopefully we can improve in the next matches.”
Luay Salah put Arbil in front in first-half stoppage time when he controlled the ball with his chest before smashing it into the net, but Qadsia levelled just five minutes after the restart when Hamad Aman scored with a fine right foot effort.
Just six minutes later, though, Arbil were back in front when Khalid powered forward before scoring from 20 yards with a shot that went over the line after hitting the crossbar.
“The boys were affected mentally as they were thinking of the final of the local cup,” said Qadsia coach Rashed Al Bedaih. “The match was important for us as we were hoping to finish on top of the group but it wasn’t easy to play in such circumstances.
“Arbil are a good side and they gave a great performance against us. I hope that the players will forget about this defeat and concentrate on the next match in the final of the cup and our important match in the Round of 16 of the AFC Cup.”
Photo: WSG