Lekhwiya players and officials celebrate with the Qatar Stars League winners’ trophy after winning the match against Al Ahli yesterday; (below) Lekhwiya coach Michael Laudrup. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil and Mamdouh
By Sports Reporter/Doha
They danced, took bare-chested selfies and clowned around in the dressing room without any signs of inhibition – the tension and fatigue of almost seven months of non-stop action suddenly dissipating into the muggy night. For Lekhwiya, who won the Qatar Stars League title for the fourth time in five years yesterday, it was celebration time.
A week after a 3-3 draw against basement club Al Shahaniya delayed their conquest and opened up a slight window of opportunity for closest rivals Al Sadd, Lekhwiya ensured there won’t be any more snafus on the way to the successful defence of their crown with a clinical 3-1 victory over Al Ahli.
Two days ago, Al Sadd coach Hussain Ammouta had hoped that Al Ahli would do them a favour and beat Lekhwiya to throw the outcome of the tournament into some confusion with only one match remaining. But the Moroccan knew in his heart of hearts that he was hoping against hope, and although his team thrashed El Jaish 5-2 yesterday, it was rendered futile by Lekhwiya’s victory.
Lekhwiya took the field with determination writ large on the players’ faces. There was intent in the way they went about their business and it was pretty clear they were not going to make the mistakes in defence they were punished for by Al Shahaniya a few days ago.
Despite missing key players in forwards Sebastian Soria and Vladmir Weiss, not to speak of their captain and defender Luiz Junior through suspensions, Lekhwiya produced an energetic display with Youseff Msakni scoring twice and marshalling the team’s resources from the midfield with great skill and efficiency.
It was not before long then that Lekhwiya stamped their authority on the match to pressure the Al Ahli defence, but they had to wait until the 12th minute to get their first goal, with Msakni playing a key role.
The Tunisian pro was a constant threat with his playmaking skills and although he was given a lot of attention by the Al Ahli defence he managed to slip in a pass to Ali Hassan Afeef on the left of the penalty area, who in turned crossed for Ismail Mohamed and the forward easily slotted the ball home from point blank range.
Lekhwiya’s joy, however, lasted only three minutes. A free-kick won by Al Ahli in the 16th minute saw Younes al-Rehmati float the ball into the box and Mulota Kabangu nodded it in the direction of Meshaal Abdulla who made no mistake with a header of his own.
However, Lekhwiya never gave up looking for chances and sure enough went ahead for the second time in the match after Msakni found himself in great position to collect the ball after it was poorly cleared by Kabangu and shot past goalkeeper Amer Abulla al-Dosari with ease in the 25th minute.
A few minutes later, Lekhwiya survived a close call when QSL top scorer Alain Dioko’s powerful effort from 25 yards missed the post by a few inches.
Lekhwiya could have consolidated further after half-time but Mohamed Tressor’s powerful drive thudded into the crosspiece in the 54th minute
But they were not to be denied for long as Msakni profited from a clear pass from Karim Boudiaf in the 84th minute before advancing past the last remnants of the Al Ahli defence and shooting past goalkeeper al-Dosari.
With less than 10 minutes to go for the match and the result almost certain, Lekhwiya staff started distributing jerseys emblazoned with the word “Champions” to the players not involved in the match for them to war during the awards ceremony.
There was also a palpable sense of excitement in the stands where the players’ wives and children were seated, with cell phone cameras recording the last moments.
Even Michael Laudrup, normally not given to a public display of emotions, allowed himself a broad smile as he joined the festivities.
Now the attention turns to the Qatar Cup and the Emir Cup after which the players will head for a holiday and then to camps in Europe before the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup begin.
