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Al Rayyan finally got off the mark in the Qatar Stars League, a 4-0 thrashing of Al Khor helping them climb seven places in the standings. |
But defending champions Al Sadd slipped to third place after a 1-0 defeat by El Jaish, a result that propelled Qatar Sports Club to the top with seven points, ahead of Al Wakrah on goal difference.
After Jaralla al-Marri put Al Rayyan ahead a minute before halftime, skipper Rodrigo Tabata, Daniel Guomo and Mohamed Saleh al-Neil found the target in the second half to help the Sheikh Jassim Cup champions open their points tally. The victory was a morale-booster for the Lions who had crashed to defeats against Al Sadd and Al Wakrah in their opening two games and were languishing in last place in the 14-team table.
But yesterday they were a picture of confidence as they completely dominated Al Khor with a convincing display of possession and accurate passing. Al Khor were up against it right from the outset and but for their goalkeeper Papa Djibril would have suffered an even bigger defeat.
Early in the game, Djibril showed remarkable agility by blocking a powerful header by new Rayyan signing Juan Forlin, immediately following it up with two brilliant saves to thwart al-Marri and Tabata.
However, luck ran out for Al Khor in the 44th minute when Nilmar cut in from the left and blasted a powerful goal-bound shot which rebounded off Djibril and al-Marri found the net with a powerful header. Al Rayyan came back even stronger after the interval and consolidated in the 49th when Nilmar was brought down and Tabata’s cracking free-kick from 25 yards settled into the right corner of the net.
Al Khor all the while were never in the picture as the Al Rayyan defence comfortably kept them at bay.
The Lions, however, were not finished and a Tabata-inspired move helped them score their third goal of the match. The Brazilian was quick to spot a hole in the defence and caressed the ball to al-Marri who flicked it for Gumo’s path and the midfielder made no mistake with his shot. Al-Neil then made it 4-0 in added time after tapping in a rebound off Djibril’s body. “We knew we will bounce back and today the boys showed tremendous fighting spirit,” Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre said.
“After our two defeats we were desperate for our first points and the fact that we did it in such convincing fashion is an encouraging sign,” the Uruguayan added.
Meanwhile Al Wakrah continued their tremendous run, beating Umm Salal 2-1 to climb to the top of the rankings with seven points from three matches. Brazilian striker Michel da Silva and Anwar Diba both scored in the second half to put give Al Wakrah their second win in three matches.
In a late match, Al Sadd fell behind El Jaish courtesy a Mohamed Muntari goal in the 14th minute to lose their top spot. Al Sadd, who had notched two straight wins before yesterday’s loss, could not capitalise on the chances that came their way despite a whopping eight minutes added to the game in the second half. It was the first win for El Jaish after two draws and the title hopefuls now occupy fourth place with five points.
Meanwhile Qatar Sports Club beat Al Kharatiat, Mousa al-Allaq scoring the winner in the 83rd minute.