Al Duhail made to wait for title after loss to Al Sadd

A terrific Al Sadd put Al Duhail’s title celebrations on hold after a thrilling 3-1 win over their arch rivals in the QNB Stars League on Thursday.
At the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Duhail needed a point to wrap up the title but the reigning champions Sadd denied them glory at their expense with Baghdad Bounedjah, Akram Afif and Rodrigo Tabata among the scoresheets.
Despite the loss to Sadd, Duhail could have sealed the title yesterday if second-placed Arabi had not won against Al Gharafa. But Arabi kept their title hopes alive thanks to Omar al-Somah’s hat-trick at the Grand Hamad Stadium.
Duhail, though, still have a two-point advantage over Arabi and are still favourites to lift the Falcon Shield after a gap of two seasons.
The Red Knights meet ninth-placed Al Shamal in their final game on May 8, while Arabi are up against the might of Sadd on the same day.
With equal number of 15 wins for the two side, Al Duhail currently hold the advantage of four goals in goal difference over Al Arabi in case both teams end in a tie.
Yesterday, needing a victory to secure an unassailable lead, Al Duhail got off to a strong start in front of home fans. They missed several chances including a hit over the bar from a close range by Karim Boudiaf following a long ball from Mohamed Musa in 16th minute.
Al Sadd earned the lead through Baghdad Bounedjah’s brilliance as he deceived two defenders to put the ball past Al Duhail goalkeeper Salah Zakaria in 41st minute.
Akram Afif lobbed past Zakaria to doubled the advantage for Al Sadd in 51st minute with Rodrigo Tabata sealing the victory for the Wolves after Michael Olunga pulled one back by converting a penalty in 73rd minute.
Al Sadd received a late setback with a red card to Tarek Salman in 88th minute but they went happy after moving to 44 points as a win over Al Arabi would earn them a second place finish.
Meanwhile, Al Somah was fabulous for Younes Ali’s Al Arabi netting a second half hat-trick with goals in 69th, 78th (pen) and 90th minute.
The defeat ended Al Gharafa’s hopes of a top-four finish as they slipped to sixth with 32 points as Qatar SC took their tally to 35 points after a 2-0 win over Al Ahli in yesterday’s first match at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Shojae Khalilzadeh own goal put Qatar SC ahead before a Javier Pastore (45+1 minutes) goal just before the interval ensured win for the side.
Qatar SC is now in a two-way battle for the fourth spot against Al Wakrah, who lead them by a point.