Al Wakrah players celebrate after defeating Al Gharafa 2-1 yesterday and avoiding relegation. Right: Al Shahaniya players are dejected after they ended up losing 0-2 to Al Ahli which resulted in them being relegated. Pics: Othman Iraqi & Mamdouh
By Sports Reporter/Doha
The last day of the Qatar Stars League was an action packed one with 25 goals being scored in the seven matches that took place yesterday.
Al Wakrah produced a gritty performance when they defeated Al Gharafa 2-1 and avoided relegation. Al Shahaniya, who were engaged in a head to head battle with Wakrah for the last safe spot in the standings, were relegated after they lost 0-2 to Al Ahli. And El Jaish claimed the third spot in the standings and the final qualification spot for the Asian Champions League with a thrilling last-gasp goal which gave them a come from behind 2-1 win over a gritty Al Kharaitiyat side.
Qatar SC who were vying for the third place won their match against Al Arabi 2-1 but Jaish’s victory meant they had to be content with the fourth spot and they will not qualify for the Champions League. This is because for this season only three teams will be eligible to play in the ACL – two teams will qualify directly (Lekhwiya and Al Sadd) and the third team (Jaish) will have to play the qualification rounds. That’s sad news for Qatar SC who have been one of the stand-out teams this season under their new coach Radhi Shenaishil.
In the other exciting result of the day Umm Salal, who were down 1-3 till the 80th minute, scored three goals in ten minutes for a remarkable 4-3 win over Al Khor. This win sees them finish the league in seventh spot.
Champions Lekhwiya produced another dominating performance when they thumped Al Sailiya 5-0 while Al Sadd, playing with a second string side, defeated Al Shamal 2-0 who have already been relegated.
Here’s a wrap up of the key matches that took place yesterday.
Al Kharaitiyat 1-2 El Jaish
Anderson Martins scored his second goal in the 94th minute to give El Jaish a last-gasp but thrilling 2-1 win over Al Kharaitiyat at the Abdulla bin Khalifa stadium and, more importantly, helped them qualify for the Asian Champions League (ACL).
Before the match Jaish were third in the table, one point ahead of Qatar SC in fourth place. And with only the team in third place in the QSL standings eligible to play in the ACL qualification rounds from this year onwards (as opposed to third and fourth for last season), there was a lot at stake for Jaish who had to prove that they were the third best team this season.
But Jaish were coming from a huge 2-5 defeat at the hands of Al Sadd. And they were playing Kharaitiyat – a team that had improved by leaps and bounds in the second half of the season. In fact since the QSL restarted, before this match, they had lost only once.
And then to complicate matters, it was Kharaitiyat who scored an early goal through Hasan Abdel‐fattah Mahmoud in the fifth minute to take the shock lead.
Kharaitiyat then sat back and let Jaish do all the attacking and that they did but couldn’t convert their chances. The first half ended with the same scoreline and Jaish were in the danger of missing out on Champions League.
In the second half too, just like for the majority of the first half, the game was largely played in Kharaitiyat territory. But the goal that they were searching for remained elusive. And then in the 79th minute Martins scored his first goal of the match to give Jaish some hope. Jaish were relentless in their attacking but were wasting their chances. And then finally when it seemed that they would have to be satisfied with a draw, skipper Martins produced a goal with literally the last shot of the match. Jaish had 18 attempts at goal out of which six were on target. But it was the two that they converted that made all the difference.
An exhilarating result for Jaish and they will have something to cheer for in what has been a disappointing season by their standards.
Kharaitiyat, meanwhile won’t be too disappointed with the loss. They have put on a strong show in the second half of the season and from being threatened with relegation have managed to finish ninth on the table. A commendable achievement indeed.
Al Ahli 2-0 Al Shahaniya
Al Shahaniya have been relegated from the Qatar Stars League after they lost 0-2 to Al Ahli at the Grand Hamad stadium. Shahaniya needed to win this match and hope that Al Wakrah would lose their match against Al Gharafa. But neither of the scenarios played out to their advantage. Wakrah too managed to defeat Gharafa 2-1 to claim the last safe spot in the standings.
Shahaniya were given a lifeline in their quest to remain in the QSL after Wakrah ended up losing two of their previous matches. But Ahli is a team that despite their two losses previous to today’s game, have done well under their new coach Zlatko Krajncar. It was always going to be an uphill battle for Shahaniya.
Right from the start of the match Ahli were dominating proceedings but though they couldn’t score in the first half, it was just down to their lack of finishing in the final one-thirds of the pitch. In the second half too, Shahaniya simply couldn’t get enough of the ball to launch even a counter attack. And the inevitable goal finally came in the 55th minute when Alain Dioko scored through a penalty. With that strike Dioko ended up with a tally of 25 goals which will help him win the Golden Boot award for the second season running. Last time, Dioko had won the Mansour Muftah award as it was named last year with a tally of 22 goals. So the star striker has managed to score three more this season.
As for Shahaniya, this goal seemed to take the wind out of their sails and whatever little hope they had seemed to be disappearing fast. Ahli skipper Meshal Abdullah then scored in the 68th minute to snuff out the possibility of any challenge of a fightback from Shahaniya.
Ahli had 20 attempts on goal with eight of them on target while Shahaniya could only manage 12 with just one on target. Shahaniya will now have to play the next season in the Qatar Gas League and hope that they can earn a quick return to the QSL. But today when they needed to up their ante, they couldn’t and they will be left ruing the matches where they had the chance to win but ended up losing at the very last stages.
Ahli meanwhile have climbed to fifth in the standings and will be looking to mount a strong challenge in the Emir Cup.
Al Wakrah 2-1 Al Gharafa
Wakrah were under tremendous pressure going into this match. They had lost two matches in a row and a loss in this match could put them at the risk of relegation. But in the end they managed a 2-1 win over Gharafa. Sebastian Saez gave Wakrah the early lead when he scored with a header in the 13th minute. The first half ended with that scoreline.
But then Claudiu Keseru equalised for Gharafa just three minutes into the start of the second half and things were looking a bit dodgy for Wakrah.
But they got lucky when defender Johar Abdul Kaabi scored with a header in the 61st minute from what looked like an offside position. Wakrah had shown the intent early on in the match and though Gharafa came back strongly in the second half, they could not convert their chances. This win means that they have avoided relegation and that would be a big relief for coach Goran Tufegdzic who was under tremendous pressure after the two earlier losses.
And that brings this exciting Qatar Stars League season to a thrilling close.
