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El Jaish bounced back into the top four, while Lekhwiya slipped up yet again to concede further ground to leaders Al Sadd as the Qatar Stars League headed for a long break to make way for the Gulf Cup later this month in Saudi Arabia.
El Jaish, looking to win their first title, completed dominated Al Shahaniya for a 4-0 win, while Lekhwiya failed to close out a match they dominated for a 3-3 draw with Al Arabi for whom Pauinho (Sergio Paulo) netted a fine hat-trick
Lekhwiya had to win to get within one point of Al Sadd, but they allowed Al Arabi to bounce back with the result the defending champions now find themselves trailing the Wolves by three points after 10 matches.
Chico Flores headed Lekhwiya into the lead off a Nam Tae-he corner in the 14th minute, but their joy lasted just six minutes as Al Arabi restored parity. Paulinho, who was threatening to score all the while, finally got himself on the score sheet with a leaping header off a corner taken by Syed Ashkan Mohamed.
There was no question that Lekhwiya dominated the match, but their tendency to relax, especially in the last 10 minutes of the game, didn’t help their cause one bit.
Lekhwiya took the lead for the second time in the match, courtesy of a strike from South Korean Nam who benefited from a deft pass by striker Sebastian Soria in the 30th minute.
The match dragged on after that before springing back to life towards the final stages, especially after Nam struck his second goal, thanks again to a Soria pass in the 80th minute.
However, at this stage Lekhwiya got complacent and simply paid the penalty. First they conceded an unnecessary a free-kick in the 83rd minute, which Paulinho duly blasted into the net from just outside the penalty area.
Then just one minute later, the pony-tailed striker beat the defence to reach a careless back pass to register his first hat-trick in the QSL.
Earlier, Lee Keun-ho found the mark twice for El Jaish, while Romarinho and Mohamed Muntari struck once each as Al Shahaniya conceded their sixth defeat in 10 matches.
With only one win and two draws in their kitty, Al Shahaniya are now 13th in the 14-team table with just five points, just above Al Shamal who have only three.
Brazilian Romarinho (Romario Ricardo Silva) opened proceedings for El Jaish with low shot from close range in the 11th minute, after which Al Shahaniya simply faded away.
The minnows practically invited more misery on themselves by conceding two penalties, one of which earned a red card for their goalkeeper Jamal Khaled al-Amoody for bringing down Romarihno as he was about to score in the 32nd minute.
That brought in new goalkeeper Sultan Saleh al-Ghereri, but he had no answer to the penalty as Mohamed Muntari sent him the wrong with a clever shot to the left.
Muntari and Romarinho troubled Al Shahaniya no end but it was not until the 70th minute that El Jaish could get their third goal.
Muntari was brought down and Lee placed the ball perfectly into the net, the Korean then scoring with a header later to complete the rout
In another match, Al Gharafa defeated Al Shamal 3-2. Gharafa are now in third place.