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Al Shamal failed to take advantage of a 10-man Qatar Sports Club and settled for a goalless draw in the Sheikh Jassim Cup here at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Wednesday. |
Both teams came into the match looking for a win after having lost their opening fixtures - Qatar SC were shocked by Shahaniya 1-2, while Al Shamal were routed by El Jaish 0-4. However, both teams displayed a lackluster performance and the match was mainly confined to the mid-field.
After a drab first quarter, the first noticeable move from Qatar SC’s came through their striker Marcio Jose de Oliveira. The Brazilian made a defence-splitting run down the left after dribbling past a couple of defenders tried to beat the onrushing Al Shamal custodian Haitham al-Ashry with a neat placement. But, al-Ashry somehow managed to get a foot to the ball to thwart the danger.
However, Oliveira left his team in troubled waters after he needlessly bagged a red card in the 34th minute for arguing with the referee. A surging Oliveira tripped over inside the ‘D’ while trying to beat Al Shamal’s custodian al-Ashry. It looked as if al-Ashry had clearly gone for the ball and not for Oliveira but the latter felt otherwise.
The referee first booked him with a yellow card but the man from the land of Samba continued to give the former an earful and eventually got his marching orders.
A man down and around 55 minutes of play still left things were going to be difficult for Qatar SC but they remained undeterred.
Qatar SC had a great opportunity to take the lead in the 40th minute when Mousa Majid al-Alaq, left unmarked, latched on to a loose ball and just had al-Ashry to beat. However, an alert al-Ashry once again managed to get his body behind to pull out a timely block. Both teams later went into the breather without disturbing the scorers. With Qatar SC taking a cautious approach after the change of ends, Al Shamal forwards pressed ahead. In the 66th minute, a low header from Hassan al-Sharif off a corner by Kahende Husaine Badmos went just wide of Qatar SC goal. Then later in the 74th minute, substitute forward Ali Ferydoon missed a golden opportunity to take the lead after he was fed with a neat cross by Badmos off a counter. Ferydoon had an open goal in front; he opted for a side volley but failed to make a neat connection.
Two minutes later, Qatar SC also managed to come close to scoring. A brilliant header from Medhat Mostafa off a corner was plucked from the air in a flash by al-Ashry.
Qatar SC custodian Mohamed Mubarak too had to keep out a shot from Ferydoon in the 83rd minute. Al Shamal later soaked up some pressure towards the end by Qatar SC forwards to settle for the goalless draw.
In the other match of the group El Jaish defeated Sailiya 1-0.