Doha: Lekhwiya claimed first blood in the all-Qatar AFC Champions League (ACL) Round of 16 meeting with former winners Al Sadd yesterday with goals from Sebastian Soria and Youssef Msakni helping Michael Laudrup’s side to a 2-1 first-leg win. Hassan Al Haydos pulled one back late in a frenetic first half for Al Sadd as former AFC Player of the Year Khalfan Ibrahim was forced to watch the majority of the game from the bench as he continues his return from injury. Al Sadd went into the game in a confident frame of mind having won three of the last four encounters between the two clubs in the 2014-15 season, including a 2-0 victory in the semi-finals of the Emir’s Cup last week, but previous form counted for little in the AFC Champions League. Lekhwiya took the lead as early as the 13th minute when Uruguay-born forward Soria latched on to Vladimir Weiss’s ball across the six-yard box, stabbing home from close range. Soon after Soria went close to doubling his side’s lead, only to fire into the side netting, but within minutes Lekhwiya added to their tally thanks to Msakni, with the Tunisian running in on goal in the 36th minute before slotting his effort beyond Saad Al Sheeb. Al Sadd, however, responded immediately when Al Haydos deftly controlled Abdelkarim Hassan’s long ball out of defence with his right before slipping the ball home with his left. The goal gave the 2011 ACL champions a lift and, after the resumption, Al Sadd went looking for the equaliser. Nine minutes into the half, Hassan’s pile driver from long range only just cleared the crossbar while three minutes later former Guangzhou Evergrande forward Muriqui sent his attempt just over the goal from outside the penalty area. Msakni shot into the side-netting with just Al Sadd goalkeeper Al Sheeb in the 64th minute when he should have done better and, three minutes later, Ibrahim finally made an appearance when he came off the bench to replace Grafite. With three minutes remaining Msakni could have restored Lekhwiya’s two-goal cushion ahead of next week’s second leg at their own stadium, but he pulled his effort across goal. And a last gasp reflex save from Lekhwiya goalkeeper Amine Lecomte somehow saw him push Hassan’s powerful free kick from 40 yards onto the post after it dipped and swerved over the visiting defence. Meanwhile a ragged second-half performance from South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors allowed Beijing Guoan to earn a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their AFC Champions League last-16 clash yesterday, while Suwon Bluewings went down 3-2 at home to Kashiwa Reysol. Korean champions Jeonbuk, who have been dominant in the league again this season, started brightly at Jeonju World Cup stadium and took the lead in the 13th minute when Kim Ki-hee rose to flick home Leonardo’s free kick. Jeonbuk seemed to be content to play on the break in the second half, allowing Beijing to dominate the midfield, and they should have gone 2-0 up in the 78th minute. With Beijing caught upfield, a quick move sent Leonardo clean through on goal but the Brazilian speedster blazed over with just the goalkeeper to beat. Jeonbuk, Asian champions in 2006, failed to heed the warnings as Beijing pressed for an equaliser and it arrived in the 85rd minute via the penalty spot after Erton Fejzullahu went down in the box. Pablo Martin Batalla made no mistake, sending goalkeeper Kwon Soon-tae the wrong way. In Suwon, the Bluewings got off to the best possible start when Yeom Ki-hoon diverted Jong Tae-se’s cross home in the second minute. However, their Japanese opponents hit back 10 minutes later when Leandro sprung the offside trap with a clipped ball over the top and Akimi Barada beat Jung Sung-ryong at his near post. Kashiwa went 2-1 up in the 30th minute when Leandro scored from a penalty, and worse was to come for the home fans when the Japanese side scored again 10 minutes after the break, Leandro again doing the damage after neat work from Cristiano. Striker Jong pulled one back just before the hour with a flying header from Yeom’s cross, but Suwon were unable to find a third and will travel to Japan for the return leg next week needing a win to advance to the quarter-finals.