Umm Salal add to Lekhwiya woes, Al Arabi win

Lekhwiya's Ismael Mohamed and Umm Salal's Andranik Samarain battle for the ball during their QSL clash yesterday.

By Sports Reporter/DohaDefending champions Lekhwiya seem to have fallen into a rut of sorts after suffering their fourth defeat in the Qatar Stars League yesterday.This time it was Umm Salal who proved to be their tormentors, the Orange Fortress scoring right at the start of the second half through Yannick Sagbo to record a 1-0 win.The result was remarkable because in the previous 10 encounters between the two teams, Umm Salal had never won. For Lekhwiya, however, it was another day they will want to forget, a missed penalty from forward Youssef Msakni completing their misery.Lekhwiya dominated the match and had several scoring chances but couldn’t find a way through. Umm Salal, on the other hand, struggled to rustle up any noteworthy chances. Lekhwiya started brightly and had early chances. Ali Afif had his shot saved by Salal keeper Baba Malick in the 11th minute. Two minutes later it was Umm Salal who had a chance denied when Claude Amin safely caught Ismael Mardani’s shot.Then right at the start of the second half, Sagbo received a cross from Rami Fayez, he turned past the defender and fired it into the goal. Lekhwiya then upped their game and started mounting attack after attack but their usual clinical finishing deserted them at crucial moments.Then in the 73rd minute Lekhwiya were awarded a penalty when Jawad Ahnash brought down Msakni. But Tunisian Msakni missed from the spot, and to add salt to their wounds, Ahmed Nasser was given a second yellow for his foul on Sagbo right at the end of the match.  Meanwhile, Al Arabi pulled off a 2-1 victory over a gritty Al Kharaitiyat side at home yesterday. A brace from striker Paulinho helped Arabi secure three points and get back to winning ways.Kharaitiyat defender Domingos will be left kicking himself after being the main culprit behind his team conceding both the goals. Despite Al Arabi being stronger on paper, it was an evenly-contested match with both sides even possession of the ball. Both teams also had roughly the same amount of shots on goal. The first goal of the match came in the 28th minute when Paulinho converted from the spot. Sergio Junior fired in a shot which ended up hitting the hand of Domingos and with just the Kharaitiyat defender’s hand preventing the goal, the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.Kharaitiyat pulled one back in the 58th minute through Yahia Kebe. Mohammed Alyazidi delivered a great cross into the box and the striker sent in a powerful header to the far corner of the goal. In the 66th minute Kebe put the ball in the back of the net but he was ruled offside, but the replay showed the decision to incorrect.Domingos then committed his second glaring mistake of the match. Arabi’s Ali Jassemi fired in a cross from the right flank and the Brazilian defender scuffed his clearance. The ball fell kindly to Paulinho who made no mistake giving his team the lead in the 81st minute. Kharaitiyat had a couple chances to get an equalizer as they went all out on the attack. Domingos himself had a chance in the 84th minute but his header went straight to the Al Arabi keeper. With this win Arabi have climbed to third in the rankings while Kharaitiyat are now ninth.Al Rayyan top the table with 21 points from seven matches, while El Jaish are second with 17. Today, Al Khor play Qatar Sports Club, Al Rayyan meet Al Wakrah and Al Gharafa clash with Al Sadd.