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With the conclusion of another exciting QSL round, five teams continue their battle for the top spot as only goal difference separates the top three sides Al Sailiyah, Al Wakrah and Al Jaish while Lekhwiya and defending champions Al Sadd are a single point behind.
The highlights of this weekend included two great comebacks from Al Sailiyah and Umm Salal, Al Gharrafa’s first defeat, Al Rayyan’s Nilmar ending his goal drought and Al Arabi’s Wanderley scoring his first league hattrick.
Al Khor (2) [Madson 45 Othman Mohamed 48]
Al Sailiyah (2) [Dagano 90 Ilunga Diba 90+3]
Al Khor came close to their first victory this season, but were denied by an injury time comeback from the visitors.
Madson opened the score for the home side in the final minute of the first half with a brilliant individual effort, before creating the second three minutes after the break from a corner that was headed in by Othman Mohamed.
The Peregrines looked set for their first league defeat this season when Bahrain International Fawzi Ayesh wasted a penalty 16 minutes from time.
But with the game heading into injury time, a long ball from Ayesh found Moumoni Dagano at the edge of the box, and the Burkina Faso international controlled the ball brilliantly before unleashing an unstoppable shot past Papa Djibril to make it 2-1.
A couple of minutes later Dagano was fouled again inside the box and Congolese striker Yves Ilunga Diba made no mistake this time to earn his team a worthy point.
Al Sadd’s goalkeeper Saad Al Shib was sent off after just 14 minutes for handling the ball outside the box, but Al Wakrah failed to benefit from the numeric advantage in a game that saw both sides wasting clear chances.
The match saw Spain’s legend Raul getting his first yellow card since joining Al Sadd in the summer of 2012.
Umm Salal (3) [Othman Al Assas 45' IbrahimaN’daiye 79' Al Yahri 84']
Al Rayyan (3) [Ahmed Alaa 21' Nilmar 36' Hamed Ismael 70']
Al Rayyan (3) [Ahmed Alaa 21' Nilmar 36' Hamed Ismael 70']
Al Rayyan’s woes continue as they wasted a two goal lead against bottom of the table Umm Salal to extend their winless streak to three games.
After a disastrous 5-1 defeat against Al Sailiyah, The Lions suffered a 3-1 loss against Al Gharrafa last week and a victory against Umm Salal was crucial to get the team back among the title contenders.
It started very well for the visitors as Ahmed Alaa gave them the lead in the 21st minute with a long range effort, before Nilmar found the net for the first time this season 15 minutes later, but Umm Salal fought back and were able to reduce the deficit just before the break, when Othman Al Assas successfully converted from the spot.
Hamed Ismael made it 3-1 for Al Rayyan with a wonderful free-kick in the 70th minute, but IbrahimaN’diaye brought the “Oranje” back into the game with a powerful header after a perfect cross from Aden Ali to set up a nail-biting final ten minutes.
With six minutes left on the clock, a great passing move that Involved N’diaye, BakaryKone, ended with delicate touch from Al Assas that set up Substitute Abdul Aziz Al Yahri for a deserved equalizer.
Umm Salal stayed bottom of the table with three points, while Al Rayyan went up one place to a disappointing 12th position one goal difference from Muaither, and to make matters worth for the Qatari football giants, Rodrigo Tabata was substituted in the first half after picking up a muscle injury. The length of his absence will be decided after a medical check at Aspetar today.
Pressure continue to mount on Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre, but the Uruguayan should not take the full blame for the recent poor results, with the team missing a number of key players through injuries and Nilmar failing to hit his top form.
Al Khurtiyat (3) [Domingos 23' John 33' Kaddioui 68']
Al Ahli (1) [Alain Dioko 47']
Al Ahli (1) [Alain Dioko 47']
Al Khurtiyath ended a three-match losing streak with a deserved 3-1 home victory over Al Ahli.
Brazilian defender Domingos headed in Al Battat’s cross in the 23rd minute to give the home side the lead, then ten minutes later Bahrain International Jaycee John intercepted a poor back pass from John Bensonbefore slotting the ball home to double the score.
Two minutes after the break, Alain Dioko Kaluyituka brought his side back into the game when he headed home Abdul Rahman Mohamed’s cross.
But in the 68th minute, Al Battat’s pass found Youssef Kaddioui inside the box, and the former Morocco international used his skill to open up space for himself before sending the ball into the bottom corner with a neat right foot finish to restore AL Khurtiyath’s two-goal lead.
The win took “The Thunders” up two spots to eighth place, as Al Ahli slipped to tenth.
Al Gharrafa (1) [Mohamed Yasser 39']
Lekhwiya (2) [Nam Tae Hee 15' Mohamed Moussa 36']
Lekhwiya (2) [Nam Tae Hee 15' Mohamed Moussa 36']
This week’s top clash ended in a hard earned victory for Lekhwiya who are now fourth in the table, just one point behind the leading trio.
South Korea international Nam Tae Hee gave the two-times QSL champions the lead after only 15 minutes with a well-curled free kick from the edge of the box.
Right back Mohamed Moussa benefited from a deadly mistake by Qatar International goalkeeper Qassim Burhan to double his team’s lead in the 36th minute, but three minutes later Mohamed Yasser reduced the deficit with a powerful long range effort.
Al Gharrafa clearly lacked the creativity of their suspended Brazilian playmaker Nene, and they could have gone behind further if Sebastian Soria capitalized on his chances, but they were presented with a precious chance to level the score four minutes from time when they were awarded a penalty. Lekhwiya goalkeeper Amine Lecomte made a great save to deny Venezuela International Miku from the spot andearn himself a man-of-match award.
Lekhwiya’s Algeria international Madjid Bougherra was sent off in the final minutes and will miss next week’s important clash against Al Jaish.
Muaither (2) [Campos 68'87']
Al Jaish (4) [Abdullah Ayesh 31' Jeddo 37' Ekoko 39' Wagner 74']
Al Jaish (4) [Abdullah Ayesh 31' Jeddo 37' Ekoko 39' Wagner 74']
Three first half goals in the span of nine minutes stunned the QSL debutants Muaither as they slumped to their third successive defeat as Al Jaish maintained their unbeaten start.
Abdullah Ayesh headed in Wagner’s corner after 31 minutes to open the score.
After just five minutes, Mohamed El Sayed “Jeddo” made it 2-0 with a close range finish to a pass from Wagner, before setting up Ekoko for the third goal a couple of minutes later with a perfect cross from the right flank.
In the 68th minute, Saud Salem’s corner was met at the far post with a perfect finish from Bolivian attacking midfielder Jhasmani Campos for Muaither’s first goal, but six minutes later Wagner added a fourth goal for Al Jaish to secure the victory.
Campos scored another consolation goal for Muaither from the spot three minutes from time.
Qatar SC (0)
Al Arabi (4) [Wanderly 7' 67' 88' Ahmed Khalfan 51']
Al Arabi (4) [Wanderly 7' 67' 88' Ahmed Khalfan 51']
Al Arabi handed Qatar their second successive 4-0 to extend their unbeaten run to three games and move two places up to sixth position in the table.
Wanderley bagged his first league hattrick since joining Al Arabi a couple of years ago. The Brazilian striker suffered a knee ligament injury on his league debut in September 2011. He returned to the team in the following season but scored only four goals in 15 starts.
He opened the score after just seven minutes with a powerful header after a measured cross from Mohamed Malallah.
Six minutes after the break, Ahmed Khalfan was lucky to go on the score sheet, as his shot hit the post before bouncing off the backof the keeper and into the net.
Wanderley added his second in the 67th minute with a wonderful individual effort before completing his hattrick two minutes from the final whistle with a close range finish after a good cross from Jesus Meza.