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| Lekhwiya: far ahead of the competition |
Lekhwiya have retained their Qatar Stars League title after Al Sadd’s 3-3 draw with Qatar Sports Club yesterday gave them an unbeatable nine-point cushion at the top yesterday. Al Sadd needed to win all their remaining four matches to have an outside chance to win the title, but they could only manage one point from their draw yesterday to hand Lekhwiya their championship in as many years.
As things stand now, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and El Jaish are locked in a desperate battle for second place with 32 points each form 19 matches, while Lekhwiya are way ahead on 42.
Lekhwiya and Al Sadd were locked neck and neck for most part of the tournament, but Djamel Belmadi’s side pulled clear with two wins in two weeks, including one over Al Sadd last week.
Yet, it was a gallant fightback by Al Sadd yesterday as they hit back with three goals in the second half to clinch a creditable draw.
Fadhl Omar struck twice and Sebastian Soria found the target once in the first half as Qatar sports Club, eighth in the standings, took a 3-0 lead.
But Jorge Fossati’s Al Sadd hit back with vengeance, with Mamadou Niang scoring twice in the 49th and 54th minutes and Khalfan Ibrahim clinching the equaliser with an 87th minute strike.
Earlier, Al Wakrah and Al Khor played out a 1-1 draw.