Rayyan, Sailiya settle for draw in thrilling encounter

Al Rayyan had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Al Sailiya after Rodrigo Tabata’s missed a late penalty that would have broken the deadlock in a hotly-contested QNB Stars League encounter at the Al Sadd Stadium yesterday.
Goals for Al Rayyan were scored by Sebastia Soria in the 59th minute and Abderrazzaq Hamdallah in the 67th. Al Sailiya’s goals came in the fifth minute through Dragos Grigore and Mohamed al-Marri in the 79th.
The game started in rapid fashion as Al Sailiya’s Mohamad Rajeb found himself clean through on goal, but was impeded by Hossam El Said on the edge of the area. Grigore stepped up to bend his perfectly-executed free-kick over the wall and into the far corner for an early lead.
With intense pressure throughout the first half, Al Rayyan looked like they had equalised when Mohamed al-Alawi drove down the left, but his shot into the corner was expertly kept out by Hassan Dicko in the opposition goal.
The intensity grew in the second half and it was not long before The Lions were back on level terms. The energetic Abdulrahman al-Harazi whipped in a cross from the right which was met by Soria, who flicked it in with a back heel.
Al-Harazi was replaced immediately after by Hamdallah who made an instant impression. He was on hand to drive home a cross from Soria and put the home side into the ascendancy.
With the game drawing to a close, Al Sailiya caught the home-side off guard to equalise. A neat interchange on the right saw Nadir Belhadj find al-Marri who guided home a wonderful diving header.
Right at the death, Al Rayyan had the chance to grab the winner when they won a penalty, but Tabata’s shot hit the post and the teams played out a draw.

Gharafa pick up three points
Al Gharafa defeated Al Kharaitiyat 2-0 yesterday for three valuable points yesterday.
Othman al-Yahri (19th minute) and substitute Mehdi Taremi (90+3) scored the goals for the sixth-placed Al Gharafa.
Al Gharafa dominated the proceedings right from the start and promptly went ahead through Othman, with Ahmed Alaaeldin setting the stage for the goal.
Late in the game, even as Al Kharaitiyat tried hard for an equaliser, an unmarked Taremi struck at the death to help Al Gharafa earn three crucial points.

Qatar SC edge out Ahli
Qatar SC secured all three points following a 1-0 win away to Al Ahli yesterday.
The only goal of the game came from Syrian striker Osama Omari, signed in the January transfer window, in the 57th minute.
An evenly-matched first half saw a low number of chances. The best early opportunity came from Osama when his crossed free-kick evaded everybody and rebounded off the post.
Al Ahli were then handed a penalty late in the half, but Meshaal Abdullah’s strike and subsequent rebound were brilliantly saved by Jassim al-Hail.