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<p>Top Qatari side Al Sadd rode on a late goal by ace striker Baghdad Bounedjah to beat Iran’s Persepolis 1-0 in their 2019 AFC Champions League Group D second-round tie on Tuesday.</p><p>Both sides were looking for their first win of the competition as Al Sadd were beaten 2-0 by Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli on Matchday one, while Persepolis could only muster a 1-1 draw at home against Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor. And that attacking intent resulted in end-to-end action early on.</p><p>Persepolis were unlucky not to score in the ninth minute after somehow failing to tap the ball in during a goalmouth scramble.</p><p>Al Sadd’s Akram Afif then saw his curling effort take a deflection and miss the goal by inches. At the other end, Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad Al Dossari produced a stunning reflex save to deny Ahmed Noorollahi.</p><p>In the 35th minute, Bounedjah had a give-and-go with Akram, but failed to direct his header away from the hands of Persepolis custodian Alireza Beiranvand. Ali Alipour then stole the ball off Pedro Miguel and had a go at the goal, but saw his shot go wide.</p><p>At the stroke of half-time, Al Sadd had the ball in the net after Bounedjah nodded in from close range, but the assistant referee ruled the effort out for offside. </p><p>The hosts upped the tempo as the second half kicked off, producing a flurry of chances to keep Beiranvand busy. The Iran international came up with two excellent saves to keep out Bounedjah in the 50th and 58th minutes.</p><p>In the 78th minute, right after Al Sadd had a penalty appeal waved away, Persepolis broke away on the counter which ended in Al Dossari keeping out Bashar Resan’s shot. </p><p>Just as the match seemed to be heading towards a stalemate, Bounedjah struck the winner for Al Sadd after nodding in Hassan’s headed pass across the goalmouth in the fifth minute of stoppage time.</p>