Sekou strikes brace as Ahli stun Sadd

Oumar Sekou scored a brace as Al Ahli stunned Al Sadd 2-1 in the QNB Stars League yesterday, dealing a blow to reigning champions’ title hopes at the Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium. The Brigadiers hit back after trailing 0-1 for most part of the opening half showing the form they did at the start of the season.
While Akram Afif had put Sadd ahead in the 36th minute, Oumar Sekou scored for Ahli in the 44th and 71st minute. The win saw Ahli move to sixth, while Al Sadd stayed third only ahead of Qatar SC on goal difference having also played one more match. Sekou stole the show and even had one strike ruled out for off-side as Ahli kept their rivals at bay especially in the eight added minutes of the match.
Sadd came close to scoring many a time but they failed to find the target. The Wolves also had a promising start when Baghdad Bounedjah’s header in the 13th minute was well stopped by the rival goalkeeper Yazan Naim, who made another close save in the 24th minute.
The mercurial Afif opened the scoring when he first initiated the move and then broke past the defence into the box to strike a telling goal. Ahli managed to equalise just ahead of half time when a free kick of theirs hit the defence wall and came back into play. Aldoukali al-Baoure then lobbed the ball in for an unmarked Oumar to lunge from the right inside the box and score with a header.
Oumar’s second goal was a fine field goal from his own move down the right. He sent in a cross but a defensive error by Sadd’s Musaab Khidir saw the ball go back to a rushing Oumar to sent in a successful left strike this time.
Sadd who till then had already seen two hits go well and over the goal, tried hard to level the scores again but in vain. There was a scramble in front of Ahli goal in the dying minutes of the match as Al Sadd attacked. Once Hassan al-Haydos’ kick was stopped at the right post by an alert defender while Santi Cazorla, who had a clear chance, shot feebly for the goalkeeper to collect. Bounedjah then tried to go for the kill but he too shot wide.

Gharafa rally to beat Shamal
Earlier, Al Gharafa edged Al Shamal 3-2 in an exciting clash at home. Gharafa rallied to bounce back from the deficit twice to overcome a strong Al Shamal, who led 2-1 at half-time.
While Ali Olwan (10th minute) and Rabeh Boussafi (44th minute) scored the goals for Al Shamal, Ahmed Alaaeldin (38th and 59th minutes) and Ishak Beldofil (49th minute) did the scoring for Al Gharafa. The brace from Alaaeldin – both goals scored through diving headers – stood out spectacularly. The valuable three points took Al Gharafa’s tally fifth place, while Shamal still remain in the danger zone in 10th place.