Duhail beat Rayyan in thriller to regain lead

Al Duhail reclaimed the QNB Stars League pole position after a thrilling come-from-behind 4-3 win over Al Rayyan at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium on Tuesday night. The victory took Hernan Crespo’s side to 45 points, two ahead of Al Arabi with three matches remaining.
Defending champions Al Sadd are third in the table with 38 points, while Al Rayyan are ninth with 17 points from 18 games.
Coming off a week which had seen them lose in the Amir Cup quarter-finals and then relinquish their league lead to Al Arabi after a 2-0 defeat to Al Gharafa, Al Duhail had to respond but it was Al Rayyan who opened the scoring, with Yohan Boli putting them ahead in the 25th minute.
Al Duhail fought back and were rewarded in the 37th minute with Khaled Mohamed drawing them level.
Ferjani Sassi put them ahead in first half stoppage time with Michael Olunga looking to have sealed the points from the penalty spot in the 76th minute. Sofiane Boufal, however, pulled one back for Al Rayyan in the 80th minute but Almoez Ali calmed Al Duhail’s nerves with his goal two minutes later. Boufal scored his second in added time.
The remaining three minutes of added time also saw frenetic action, with both sides having a few more close calls adding to the excitement for fans of both teams. The fixture was earlier postponed due to the teams’ participation in the Round of 16 of 2022 AFC Champions League.
Up next for Al Duhail are Umm Salal on April 29 with Al Sadd SC (May 4) and Al Shamal (May 8) to follow while Al Arabi’s remaining matches are against Al Wakrah (April 29), Al Gharafa (May 4) and Al Sadd (May 8).
Duhail defender Mohamed Musa said it was an important and deserved victory for his side. “We played a great match against a strong team, and the players showed a strong reaction to the loss in the last match against Al Gharafa. We regained the top spot in the standings. We hope to be focused and at the top of our mental, technical and physical presence in the remaining matches in order to win the league title,” he said.
“Every match has its circumstances. We were not lucky against Al Gharafa in the last match, as we wasted many chances, especially in the first half. But today we showed a strong reaction and we look forward to continuing to present good performances in the rest of the matches, starting with the confrontation Umm Salal,” Musa added.