Brazilians Marcio Emerson and Felipe Jorge were on target to secure the three points while Osvaldo Felix grabbed a consolation for Al Ahli, who had Saheb Jassem dismissed just before the break.

Emerson opened the scoring in just the third minute when he robbed defender Jufain Ali before coolly slotting the ball beyond goalkeeper Yasser Abdullah.

Al Ahli nearly equalised in the 13th minute when midfielder Turki Mousa's powerful drive went inches over the bar.

But in the 24th minute Al Sadd doubled their advantage when Jorge fired home a long-range free-kick which Yasser Abdullah could only fumble into the net.

The Al Ahli shotstopper was on hand to prevent Mesad Al Hamad's effort 10 minutes later.

Just before the break, Al Ahli's Saheb Jassem picked up his second yellow card of the match when he brought down Wisam Rizq with a reckless foul.

Al Sadd wasted an easy chance to grab a third soon after the restart when Emerson, struggling as the match wore on due to a lack of match practice, failed to finish after being put through by Magid Hassan.

Al Ahli reduced the deficit in the 74th minute through substitute Felix, who headed home from inside the box after latching onto a pass from midfielder Mousa but they were unable to find an equaliser before the final whistle.

Al Sadd play Al Wahda of UAE in an away fixture on March 19 in their next Champions League match while Al Karama of Syria take on Al Ahli at home.