Karachi United played their
2nd game of the tour against Al
Sadd. Both teams fielded younger
sides, meaning the rest of the
KU players all got a run out.
The match kicked off near
dusk and it was KU that started
off the better of the two teams.
Maaz Shafi giving the opposition
defenders a tough time and was a
handful to be kept in check.
Soon the home side began to take
control and maintained
possession while KU were forced
to go long to release the
pressure they had been under.
They got their best chance of
the match when a clearance found
Maaz through on goal but his
shot was well saved by the goal
keeper. Hamza Javed was trying
to probe through from the left
hand side but he could not find
the killer pass to match his
dribbling skills. Al Sadd kept
the pressure on KU and it took
some solid defensive work from
the defence to keep the
opposition at bay. The highlight
was Yasir Siddiqui's header to
safety off a dangerous cross
from the right flank. The half
finished goal less.
The 2nd half started off
brightly for KU and the
introduction of captain Kareem
Kerai provided much needed
spark. After some good interplay
between Ben, Hamza and Hammad,
Kareem unleashed a 25 yard shot
which hit the underside of the
bar and bounced over the line.
1-0 to KU. The KU team took
confidence from the goal and
played some good attacking
football with a chance falling
to Hammad Askari which was well
blocked by the Al Sadd captain.
After the hour mark the home
side began to take control of
the game and started to claw
back. A good move from their
right saw their midfielder cut
in and hit a ferocious shot into
the bottom corner from 20 yards
and parity was restored. Soon
afterwards the same player tried
to walk through the KU defence
but his shot went off target. It
was not long before Al Sadd took
the lead as their forward
tricked his was past 3 players
down the right flank before
slotting it around goalkeeper
Danny Gilani. 2-1 to the home
side and KU were up against it
with a few minutes left on the
clock. KU woke up after the goal
and the introduction of Zaid
Kerai helped life the side. Ali
Haider's long pass forward to
Mikaeel Naseer alomst reaped a
goal but the keeper did well to
clear the ball to safety. A
Kareem Kerai volley was well
saved by the keeper as it was
headed for the back of the net.
It looked like KU would again go
back empty handed but a free
kick near the half way line in
the 1st minute of injury time
changed the outcome. Ali Haider
stepped up and sent a beautiful
ball towards the far post where
Mikaeel Naseer finished on the
volley. 2-2 and KU were back on
level terms. KU had to defend a
free kick in the last minute and
they did to complete a good come
back and secure a draw against a
former AFC Champions League
winners.
Player Ratings
Danny Gilani - 6
Hassan Saad - 7
Taimoor Mukaty - 6.5
Jibran Fawad - 6.5
Yasir Siddiqui - 7
Changaiz Shafi - 5.5
Benedict Plant - 7
Hammad Askari - 6.5
Hamza Javed - 6.5
Muneeb Anjum - 5.5
Maaz Shafi - 6
Subtitutes
Kareem Kerai - 8
Ali Haider - 7
Atif Sachak- 6.5
Fahim Sachak - 6.5
Amaan Saeed - 6
Zaid Kerai - 7
Mikail Naseer - 8
Shaezer Razi Azmat - 6.5
