El Jaish striker Abderrazak Hamdallah (right) scored a brace in his team’s 2-0 win over defending champions Lekhwiya.

By Sports Reporter
Doha


Two goals in ten minutes from Abderrazak Hamdallah ensured that El Jaish grabbed all three points in their much-anticipated derby against Lekhwiya in a tight match at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa stadium.
The derby swung into action in the second minute when midfielder Ahmed Abdul Maqsoud was judged to have handled the ball in the box, giving Jaish a penalty. Striker Hamdallah stepped up to calmly slot the ball into the right hand corner. That was his seventh goal in six QSL games and Jaish had their dream start to the derby.
Jaish didn’t wait around and promptly doubled their lead in the 11th minute.  Hamdallah scored his second of the game picking the ball on the far left hand side, after running at the Lekhwiya defence the Moroccan eventually got his shot away, which nestled into the right hand corner past Lekhwiya keeper Amine Lecomte. Jaish had truly grabbed this tie by the scruff of the neck.
Jaish came back on the attack again, and on the 17th minute a Sardor Rashidov shot brought a good save from the beleaguered Cops keeper Lecomte. Lekhwiya looked blunt in the final third and fashioned next to no chances in the first half which ended 2-0 in favour of Jaish.
Lekhwiya had to get something in the second half from the tie, but it was Jaish who had the first chance of note. In the 48th minute Hamdallah bundled down close to the box, which looked like a penalty. The referee pointed from just outside the area. From the resulting corner Romarinho drew a good save from the Lekhwiya keeper.
Former Jaish player Mohammed Muntari was brought on for Lekhwiya on the 50th minute, as Djamel Belmadi looked to get his side back into the derby. Lekhwiya continued to pressure their rivals; however Jaish remained composed in defence and looked to take the defending QSL champions on the break.
The cops should have got back into the tie thanks to a mazy run from Tunisian Midfielder Youssef Msakni. Unfortunately his effort just trickled past the El Jaish post. Subsitute Muntari was instrumental in another chance for his side and provided a well-placed ball to Msakni but he was rightly judged offside by the linesman.
On the sidelines Djamel Belmadi was getting increasingly frustrated with his side and the officials. The defending champions lacked the goal scoring touch and Belmadi could be facing a crisis of sorts with his side as they slumped to their second consecutive defeat in the QSL.
For Jaish, they remain unbeaten in the QSL this season and coach Sabri Lamouchi will be delighted with the team performance from his side.

Wakrah 2-1 Gharafa
Al Wakrah put in a gritty performance to register a come from behind 2-1 victory over Al Gharafa at the Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Stadium. Mohsine Moutaouali’s brace, which included a 95th minute penalty, gave the home side their second victory in this QSL season.
The first half saw both teams engineering moves but a lack of finishing ensured that no goals were scored. Gharafa’s Anderson Martins fired in a shot in the 25th minute but Wakrah keeper Mohamed Enyas was able to tip it over the bar.
Just four minutes later Enyas was injured when he landed awkwardly after collecting the ball and had to be eventually substituted in the 36th minute by Hassan Deecko. In the very next minute there was a goalmouth melee and Gharafa’s Almahdi Mukhtar hit the bar from less than six yards.  
The second half too continued on equal footing and the deadlock was broken in the 59th minute with a great goal by Gharafa defender Lawrence Quaye. Yasin Chikhaoui ran into the box and then backheeled into the path of Quaye who curled it into the far corner of the goal.
Despite conceding a goal, Wakrah remained in the tie, constantly threatening the Gharafa defence. In the 74th minute they got back into the game thanks to Moutaouali who fired in a free kick. This, on first glance seemed like an intended as a cross, which amazingly ended up in the back of the net. The Moroccan shrugged his shoulders indicating that he didn’t expect that to go in. On the other hand, Gharafa keeper Burhan should have done better, as the ball easily floated in over his head.
Gharafa pushed for a winner in the final quarter of the match. The Cheetahs created a host of chances but their final finishing let them down.
Then disaster struck for Gharafa. In injury time defender Almahdi Ali Mukhtar brought down Moutaouali with a mistimed tackle inside the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
The Moroccan stepped up to take the penalty and scored past Burhan who got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out. Gharafa who started off the season with three successive wins now have two back to back losses. Wakrah meanwhile will be happy with this heist of three points.
Meisameer grab first QSL win.
Mesaimeer scored their first-ever win in Qatar Stars League by defeating Al Kharaitiyat at the Grand Hamad Stadium 2-1. The first half started with Kharaityat taking the lead at the 12th minute through Yahya Kebe with an assist from Abdel Aziz Al Ansari. After which Mesaimeer had the upper hand in the tie.
The pressure eventually told on Kharaitiyat and Meisameer grabbed their first goal in the QSL thanks to Brazilian Ervelito Silva, who scored in the 37th minute with an assist from his teammate Jose Pinto, the first half ended 1-1.
The second half commenced with the same rhythm with each team following the same tactics until the 61st minute when Mesaimeer took a deserved lead courtesy of a second goal from Silva. Mesaimeer have veteran goalkeeper Basel Zidan to thank, he had a particularly outstanding game for the Flames.
Zidan unfortunately got injured in his head after a coalition in injury time and outfield player Muhanad Adnan took his place in goal because Meisameer had already made their three substitutions.
But Adnan was put under little pressure in the final two minutes. The referee finally blew the final whistle giving Meisameer a memorable first victory in the QSL.
This win will give a lot of confidence to the team that was propping up the table until this result.