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Al Sadd went second in the Qatar Stars League with a 2-0 victory over Al Arabi as El Jaish continued to occupy the top position after the ninth round of the matches concluded yesterday. |
El Jaish clipped Al Sailiya’s hopes of leapfrogging them to the top with a 1-0 win, a result that helped Al Sadd jump to second, boosting the 13-time champions’ hopes of successfully defending their title.
Nadir Belhadj and Saleh al-Yazidi struck for Al Sadd in either half as Hussein Amotta’s side survived a few jitters before overcoming their rivals in a match that was peppered with some brilliant moments as well as several instances of equally lacklustre football.
Al Sadd had been inconsistent this season so far and although they secured three points, their victory was far from convincing as Al Arabi created several chances only to spurn them.
The defending champions went ahead in the third minute after Al Arabi were caught napping during a counterattack as Belhadj collected the ball near the centre and progressed virtually unchallenged before scoring from the top of the box past the Al Arabi goalkeeper Rajab Hamza who gave his defenders an earful.
Al Sadd could have consolidated in the 10th minute but Yousuf Ahmed Ali failed to put away the ball after Hassan al-Haydos had threaded a clean pass to him.
And al-Haydos himself was the culprit in the 26th minute when he fired over the post from close off a corner.
Al Arabi’s Syed Adnan, meanwhile, saw his thundering free-kick saved by Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb and Mohamed Razark too missed out when he fired wide from close. Al Sadd had a golden opportunity to consolidate but Raul failed to connect off a corner in the 36th minute. The second half witnessed some scrappy play with both teams failing to find inspiration before the final few minutes injected some life into it.
Adnan’s wild shot from point-blank range off a free-kick saw the ball sail metres over the crossbar in the 87th minute before al-Yazidi’s strike in injury time gave Al Sadd a 2-0 cushion. With time ticking away, Al Sadd were awarded a penalty when Ali Asad was brought down in the box.
The midfielder himself took the penalty but Al Arabi goalkeeper Rajab brought off a splendid save.
In other matches yesterday, Al Ahli shocked Lekhwiya 1-0 while Qatar Sports Club and Al Rayyan played out a goalless draw.
