By Sports Reporter/Doha
Al Sadd’s hopes of crowning themselves with an unprecedented 14th title took a severe knock after they crashed to a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Qatar Sports Club yesterday.
With the Qatar Stars League heading towards its final straight, Al Sadd had to win their match yesterday to keep within striking distance of leaders Lekhwiya, but Hamdi Harbaoui struck twice in a span of three minutes to leave the former Asian champions praying for a miracle.
Al Sadd were four points off the pace before yesterday’s action, but defending champions Lekhwiya stretched their lead to seven (52-45) after they edged Umm Salal 2-1 in a close contest to tighten their grip on the title.
With only four matches remaining to be played, Al Sadd’s hopes now rest on a late meltdown by Lekhwiya, who are seeking their fourth title in five years in the Qatari top flight.
Al Sadd dominated play but bad luck and the heroics of the Qatar Sports Club goalkeeper Mohamed Mubarak Dawood, who brought off several blind saves, proved their undoing.
Twice in the match, Al Sadd were denied by the woodwork and several times towards the end – which included six minutes of added time – Dawood stood like a rock, fending off shots like an acrobat.
Both of Harbaoui’s goals came off headers in the 27th and 29th minutes, while Abdulkarim Hassan pulled one back for Al Sadd in the 48th, again with a header.
Meanwhile, Lewkhiya were put ahead by Sebastian Soria when a lightning counter attack saw Ismael Mohammed break down the right and send a cross first time into the box. Soria made it look easy as he applied the faintest of touches to make it 1-0 in the 13th minute of the game.
However, Umm Salal showed great purpose and despite the one-man disadvantage, the boys in white equalised.
A hopeful ball from the back was sprayed out to the right wing and Qatari international Khaled Muftah didn’t know that Umm Salal winger Mohamed El Sayed was on his tracks. El Sayed intercepted the ball beautifully before coolly slotting home the equaliser.
Umm Salal stepped up their game and began to dominate last season’s champions but then a major turning point in the match occurred when Ahmed El Sayed was sent off for another bookable offense.
Slowly but surely Lekhwiya started to dominate and a throw-in found Vladimir Weiss on the left wing and the Slovak turned and ran across the front of goal before letting rip with a dipping shot which bounced awkwardly past keeper Baba Malik.
Lekhwiya really didn’t seem impressive but once again did just enough to get all three points after a real scare from the visitors.
Qatar Sports Club players celebrate their win over Al Sadd yesterday.
