Santi Cazorla returns to score in cup final & 1st league start | OneFootball

Santi Cazorla capped his first cup and league starts of the season with goals for Al-Sadd SC and another trophy for the club.

Santi Cazorla playing for Al-Sadd SC (Photo via Cazorla on Instagram)

After missing the first few games of the campaign, Santi Cazorla recently returned to action with a substitute appearance against Al-Gharafa SC on October 17th.

That cameo had him fit just in time to start in the Amir Cup final last Friday. The cup is played in a calendar-year format, hence why the final took place just after the start of the league campaign.

The former Gunner made a big impact on the day. He scored an equalising penalty in the second half of the final, before scoring in the shootout – which his team won 5-4.

Cazorla wrote afterwards: “What an incredible game and what a great family we are and another title for Al-Sadd, incredible also to play in front of our fans, thanks for the support.”

Returning to the league action, Cazorla made his first start of the campaign on Sunday against Umm Salal SC, and he had a big impact in their 3-1 win.

Cazorla’s side went behind in the early stages, but he helped draw them level with an assist just seven minutes later. The 36-year-old cut the ball back to the edge of the box for Akram Afif to finish.

Before half an hour had been played, Cazorla gave Al-Sadd the lead. He and Afif switched roles, with the latter cutting it back for Cazorla to finish under the goalkeeper and make it 2-1.

The Spaniard even had a role to play in the third goal, breaking the lines to find Rodrigo Tabata, who assisted Andre Ayew. You can watch all the goals here.

Cazorla has been a big success with Al-Sadd, providing plenty of goals and assists as they’ve won the Qatar Stars League, the Qatar Cup, the Qatari Stars Cup and the Amir Cup (twice).

The 36-year-old even won the Qatar FA’s Best Player of the Year award for 2020/21. It’s always good to see him doing well.