El Jaish’s Nilmar (second from left) celebrates his goal with his teammates during their Qatar Stars League match against Al Wakrah yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram
Brazilian pro Nilmar didn’t show any signs of nerves during his first outing for El Jaish as he powered them to a 4-1 victory over al Wakrah in the Qatar Stars League yesterday.
Nilmar, who only moved to El Jaish from under-performing Al Rayyan last week, was in scintillating form as he struck twice in the first half to help title-chasing El Jaish maintain pressure on leaders and two-time champions Lekhwiya.
The Brazilian struck in the 10th and 25th minutes while Mohamed Jeddo (37) and Jires Kembo-Ekoko (55) added one each to enable El Jaish win their 10th match of the league. They have played 19 games in all.
Al Wakrah, who have fallen way behind after a promising start to the season, were hardly able to match their much-superior rivals yesterday.
However, they managed to find the net once, thanks to a fine effort from midfielder Said Bouthar. It was the seventh loss for them in 18 matches.
Lekhwiya, however, continue to maintain their ascendency in the tournament, leading El Jaish by a whopping seven points.
Yesterday they thrashed minnows Muaither 5-0 for their 12th win in 19 matches, taking their tally to 40.
Yousef Msakni was Lekhwiya’s hero, opening the account with an 11th-minute strike aided by a Nam tae-Hee assist, and adding one more in the 85th.
South Korean Nam also registered his name on the score sheet, scoring the second goal for his team off a pass from Khalid Muftah. Striker Sebastian Soria and Dame Traore completed bottom-placed Muaither rout.
Meanwhile, Al Arabi and Al Khor played out a 3-3 draw while Al Rayyan wasted countless opportunities against Al Gharafa before earning a point.
Al Rayyan, who at the beginning of the league were touted as the favourites but are now languishing in 13th place, had to wait until the last minute to clinch a 1-1 draw against Al Gharafa who had loads of luck on their side yesterday.
They scored in the 63rd minute through Anas Mubarak to take the lead but not after goalkeeper Qassim Burhan had brought off numerous saves to thwart Al Rayyan.
In fact, Al Rayyan were so dominant in the first half that they looked like scoring any minute.
Rodrigo Tabata’s fine shot from outside the penalty area just went wide, while Lucho Gonzalez also missed a couple of chances from point-blank range.
Gonzalez, however, made amends by scoring Al Rayyan’s equaliser in the 90th minute to help his team win a rare point.