Duhail come to life in second half to beat spirited Muaither

Al Duhail beat a resurgent Muaither 4-1 in the Expo Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium on Friday. This was the defending champions’ second successive win of the new season. While the promoted Muaither had somewhat brightened their hopes, coming back from a goal down, they were overhauled by The Red Knights in the second half. The teams were locked 1-1 at half-time.
Al Duhail star Michael Olunga scored a brace, while Almoez Ali assisted in three for the winners. Olunga scored in the ninth and 76th minutes of the match. Ibrahima Diallo struck in the 68th minute and substitute Isaac Lihadji sent the ball into the back of the net in added time (90+7 minute). For Muaither, Romanian forward Denis Alibec scored their only goal in the 37th minute.
While the strong Al Duhail showed their class and composure, Muaither too stood out with their fighting abilities. Al Duhail opened their scoring early, with Almoez and Olunga combining effectively and the latter converting the chance with a left-foot back flip in front of the goal much like the one he had scored in the first match against Al Ahli.
Muaither then latched on to a great opportunity as a defensive lapse of Mohamed Khalid al-Naimi saw an alert Alibec run from the centre of the box to score. Then it looked as if Muaither would fight hard against Al Duhail going into the break at 1-1. However, Al Duhail came out guns blazing and silenced their rivals.
Diallo got Al Duhail back into the lead (2-1) after the side broke past the defence line and Almoez sent the ball to the unmarked player to strike from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
Olunga was then back into big action running-in to head an Almoez cross from a close distance on the right (3-1).
Young French player Lihadji then joined the delight of scoring as his left-footer hit the inside of the left post before going in. He was assisted by Kim Moon-Hwan, who earlier worked his way past the defenders.
Muaither had their chances, but they lacked finishing. In the 39th minute of the match, Jamal Hamed Mayor missed to connect a perfect cross in front of the goal while in the 87th minute, Guy Mbenza could not beat rival goalkeeper Salah Zakaria. In added time, Muaither did get the ball in, but the goal was disallowed as the player had handled the ball on the bounce before taking the kick.
Moreno strike helps
Rayyan beat Qatar SC
Al Rayyan edged past Qatar SC 1-0 at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. It was a second straight win for The Lions in front of their home fans. The winning strike for Al Rayyan came from their Spaniard striker Rodrigo Moreno in the 15th minute of the match.
While the contest remained absorbing throughout, both sides couldn’t breach the rival defences thereafter. Al Rayyan began on a strong note with attacking play and were rewarded soon when a Gabriel Pereira pass put Roger Guedes through to break from the right and provide Moreno with a golden cross. Moreno made no mistake as he beat an advancing goalkeeper Sataa al-Abbasi to his right.
Qatar SC, who had a thrilling 4-4 draw in their opening match of the league against Al Gharafa last week, did well in their defence foiling Al Rayyan’s raids but were also held back by the rival defence.
Qatar SC’s big chance had come in the 39th minute when their Congolese striker Ben Malango missed a header in front of the goal. His attempt, off an Ibrahim Majed assist, from the centre of the box went high and wide.
In the 43rd minute, Al Rayyan’s Guedes found the back of the net but was ruled offside. There were some exciting moments for Al Rayyan fans towards the end when a Pereira kick hit the crossbar to fall and bounce out but he was also ruled offside as well.