Al Wakrah maintained their unbeaten run as they beat Al Rayyan 1-0 in the fourth round of the Ooredoo Cup at the Al Khor Stadium Sunday. Mohamed Benyettou scored the winning goal in the 54th minute. Al Wakrah have eight points, while Al Rayyan stood on seven. Al Wakrah attacked more in the first half which, however, ended goalless.
Wakrah’s Mohamed Abdulrahman tested rival goalkeeper Saoud al-Hajri and the latter blocked the shot with ease. After barely a minute, Wakrah’s Meshaal Abdullah narrowly hit wide from an acute angle at the near post.
Wakrah went ahead through Benyettou, who volleyed the ball home. They nearly doubled the lead in the 66th minute, but no player was on hand to stab home a measured cross from the left by Mohamed Abdulrahman.
Even though Wakrah were the better side on view overall, Rayyan tried hard as the match progressed, but could not cross the hurdle, where Hassan Idriss was the last line of defence. Wakrah’s Faisal Abdullah had a goal ruled offside in the 88th minute. Then, in stoppage time, Abdulrahman Mosed too had a goal disallowed.
Meanwhile, Al Sadd secured a 2-2 draw against winless Umm Salal at the Al Shamal Stadium.
Sadd’s goals came from Moustafa Mashaal in the 54th minute and Baghdad Bounedjah in the 75th minute, with Umm Salal getting on the scoresheet through Yannick Sagbo in the 60th minute and Ilyas Brimil in the 67th minute. With both sides stuttering for form in this season’s Ooredoo Cup, it was no surprise that a cagey first half ensued as neither team grabbed the initiative early on. It took until 10 minutes into the second half for the first goal when Moustafa got his side ahead.
Umm Salal were quick to recover from the setback and turned the game around shortly after. The ever-present threat of Yannick Sagbo levelled the scores before Brimil gave his side a lead just seven minutes later. Umm Salal were unable to secure their first Ooredoo Cup win of the season when Bounedjah scored to get his side on level terms, which turned out to be a crucial goal as the teams settled for a point.
In another match, Al Ahli bounced back to beat Al Shahania 2-1 at the Al Wakrah Stadium. After a goalless opening session, Al Shahania went ahead through Nigel de Jong, who converted a penalty in the 63rd minute.
Al Ahli were not to be bowed and fought with renewed vigour. The Brigadiers equalised in the 88th minute through Majed Mohamed and then struck a vital blow on their rivals through prolific striker Abel Mathias in stoppage time (90+1).
Al Ahli took their points tally to nine, whereas Al Shahania remained on one point, that they earned from their goalless draw with Al Wakrah.
Action from the Ooredoo Cup fourth round match between Al Wakrah and Al Rayyan Sunday.
