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The familiar downcast expression on Eric Gerets’ face said it all. Less than a month after he experienced the high of winning the Qatar Stars League, the Belgian has been left frustrated by Lekhwiya who crashed out of the lucrative Emir Cup yesterday after suffering a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Al Ahli. |
Over the past few weeks, the three-time QSL winners seem to have lost their focus completely. They bowed out of the Asian Champions League with some uncharacteristically below-par performances which saw them win only two of their six group matches. And in the final of the inaugural Qatar Cup, which replaced the Heir Apparent Cup, they fell on penalties to El Jaish.
That gave them only the Emir Cup, the last tournament of the season, to reassert their dominance on the domestic scene but Al Ahli simply had other ideas. They led 2-0 by the time the match was 25 minutes old before clinching a last-gasp winner after the QSL winners had drawn level.
Al Ahli had finished a creditable sixth in the QSL, but their win yesterday was a pointer to the fact that there’s precious little to choose from among the top five or six teams in Qatar.
Yesterday’s loss would rankle Gerets even more because Lekhwiya were seeded directly into the quarter-finals as one of the top four teams in the QSL with the knockout format not affording the luxury of a second chance. In effect, their Emir Cup campaign lasted just 93 minutes – if one accounts for the three minutes of second half injury time.
The fact that the normally secure Lekhwiya goalkeeper Amine Lecomte was not in his element yesterday contributed hugely to their defeat as Al Ahli struck in the fourth minute of the game through Iranian international Mojtaba Jabbari.
perfectly placed
Jabbari, who was perfectly placed inside the penalty area, was left with an easy tap-in after Lecomte failed to collect the ball cleanly off an earlier attempt at goal by Congolese midfielder Mulota Kabangu.
Al Ahli almost consolidated a few minutes later, but after Lecomte was left hopelessly out of position, captain Meshal Abdullah could only watch in dismay as his goal-bound shot was cleared by Lekhwiya defender Talal al-Qahtani just as it was about to cross the line.
However, it didn’t take Al Ahli to increase their lead, Jabbari once again finding himself in good position to receive the ball after Lecomte’s goal-kick was powerfully headed back deep into the Lekhwiya territory and the Iranian fired it in with ease in the 24th minute.
Lekhwiya, to their credit, didn’t lose hope and were back in business three minutes later, Adel Ahmed finishing off a pass by Ismail Mohamed.
poor defending
Al Ahli carried a 2-1 advantage into the second half, but Lekhwiya boosted their hopes of a comeback win thanks to some poor defending which saw Vladimir Weiss blast home in the 65th minute from close range to level the scores.
The QSL champions’ luck ran out in the 78th minute when a powerful header by Mohamed Moosa struck the post with Al Ahli goalkeeper Amer al-Dosari out of position.
And in the 90th minute when Alain Dioko’s shot hit the post and trickled into the goal to give Al Ahli an unlikely win, Lekhwiya’ misery was complete.