A last-gasp goal by substitute Yusuf Abdurisag saw title contenders Al Sadd score a come-from-behind 2-1 win over a challenging Al Markhiya in their Expo Stars League match at Al Arabi Club’s Grand Hamad Stadium yesterday.
Abdurisag scored after a goal-mouth melee following a corner kick in the 90+7th minute to rescue the leaders of the league championship.
Earlier Akram Afif had converted a penalty kick in the 67th minute to level the scores for The Wolves after Al Markhiya had gone up the lead with rivals’ Own Goal (Paulo Otavio) in the 26th minute.
The dramatic win took Al Sadd’s tally to 43 points from 18 matches at the top while Al Markhiya remained at the bottom with 8 points.
The huge contrast in the two teams’ placings in the rankings was no reflection in the exciting contest as Al Markhiya battled hard and even pushed back the formidable rivals during many stages of the match.
While Al Sadd looked for a bright start they were held back by a staunch defence.
Al Markhiya hit back with a counter as Ali al-Mohannadi, who made the starting XI replacing an injured Yusupha Nije, latched on to the ball just outside the box to strike and Al Sadd’s Otavio trying to defend deflected the ball into his own goal.
Having gained the lead, Al Markhiya came charging again in the 35th minute but failed to find a finish and after a scramble in front of the goal, Al Sadd goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham made a big save kicking the ball away.
In the 42nd minute, Al Sadd forward Afif got a lob from Paulo Silva to make a fine header but it hit the left goal post to bounce off.
Al Sadd eventually found the equalizer in the second session when Gonzalo Plata dashed in from the right to weave his way through past defenders but was brought down inside the box by Mouhamadou Naby Sarr and the referee called for a penalty. Afif stepped up to take the spot kick and converted it coolly and drew parity.
The contest now heated up saw both sides making more attempts but failing to find a finish.
Al Sadd’s big moment finally arrived in the dying moments when following a corner kick an unmarked Afif on the left, sent the ball toward the goal but it was first intercepted by a defender before the ball moved to Baghdad Bounedjah who made a backflip which ricocheted off Al Markhiya goalkeeper Oumar Barry and an alert Abdurisag chested the ball back in much to the joy of his teammates and the team’s fans.
Al Rayyan beat Al Duhail 2-0
Roger Guedes netted both goals as Al Rayyan defeated Al Duhail 2-0 in at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium yesterday.
Guedes got his brace in the 80th and 86th minutes to extend Al Rayyan’s points in the standings to 35 as they maintained their fourth position, while Al Duhail remained on 22 points and remained sixth with four matches left to play before the league rounds off.
Al Duhail, who had been posting a string of inconsistence performances in several of their last fixtures, were on the front foot right from the blast of the opening whistle with their arrowhead in attack, Michael Olunga, posing significant threats to Al Rayyan’s defensive lineup on several occasions.
After many attempts at goal, Olunga appeared to have given the Red Knights the lead in the 23rd minute after nodding home from Ismael Mohammed’s assist, off a corner kick, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review indicated that the Kenyan international was offside prior to the goal.
Undaunted by the cancellation of the goal, Al Duhail continued to pile pressure on Al Rayyan, whose defence stood rock-solid in curtailing the attack.
Olunga almost netted the opening goal in the 36th minute after connecting perfectly to a cross from Philippe Coutinho, but his powerful header was painfully denied by the crossbar.
Al Rayyan got a couple of chances to make the difference as well but were unable to find the net, like their opponents, as the first half ended with no goals on either side.
A much rejuvenated Al Rayyan came out of the dugout for the second half of the thrilling encounter, and they almost got the opener in the 46th minute with Achraf Bencharki’s thunderous right-footed shot narrowly hitting the upright on its way out.
The goal attempt turned into a confident - boost for The Lions as they became more daring upfront, making several incursions into Al Duhail’s half of the field.
With Al Rayyan’s unending pressure, the deadlock was finally broken in the 80th minute, with Guedes netting the opener from a tight corner, from a Bencharki assist, after an impressive overlapping run.
Six minutes later, Gabriel Pereira assisted Guedes in getting his brace of the night to further compound last year’s league winners, Al Duhail’s woes.
The second goal seemed to take the wind of Al Duhail’s sails as coach Christophe Galtier’s men appeared to be bidding for the final whistle from thereon while Al Rayyan continued to be adventurous in their play.
Such was the situation until the final whistle, with The Lions having the “last roar” over their opponents as they bagged the crucial maximum points of the encounter.