The Qatari side had to dig deep to secure the 1-0 victory in a match in which Persepolis had the better of the chances but Mateus Uribe’s first half goal was enough to decide the tie.
“I congratulate the players on winning a very difficult match against Persepolis, we got very important points and I congratulate the players and the fans on the win,” said Sanchez.
“Persepolis played their way and lost, and we played our way and won, and we deserved to win the match.
“Winning two matches and drawing one indicates that we are on the right track towards qualification and this is the most important thing for us at the moment. After this, we think about the future.”
The win means Al Sadd are two points shy of Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal SFC and Al Ahli Saudi FC, with the top eight teams to advance to the knockout stage.
The defeat left Persepolis on only one point with the Islamic Republic of Iran side facing a battle to advance to the Round of 16.
Juan Carlos Garrido was perplexed as to how his team went away without any reward after such a rounded away performance.
“It is unfortunate that we lost and I do not know how we lost today, we did everything in football,” said head coach Garrido.
“We played well but then conceded a goal and even though we produced a high quality display in the second half, we still wasted the opportunities we created. We know that Al Sadd are a very good team but we controlled most of the match, we were the better team and could have scored even at the last moment.”
Al Sadd meet UAE’s Al Wasl on November 4 with Persepolis seeking a rebound when they host another Qatari side in Al Gharafa on the same day.
