Al Kharaitiyat players celebrate after scoring a goal against Mesaimeer during their QSL match yesterday at the Al Khor Stadium. PICTURES: Othman Iraqi
For Lekhwiya, Alain Dioko produced a brace (56’ and 64’) before Ismail Mohammed slipped one past El Jaish goalkeeper Khalifa Ndiye (73’) to make it 3-0 for the defending championships at Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Lekhwiya initially failed to sparkle as both teams walked off the pitch with the scoreboard showing 0-0 at half time.
Mesaimeer striker Wajdi Bouazzi attempts to get to the ball as Kharaitiyat coach
Amar Osim (R) reacts during their QSL match yesterday.
Early in the second half, Jaish wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead when Abderrazzaq Hamedallah missed his penalty shot in the 47th minute. Lekhwiya defender Chico Flores had brought down Hamedallah inside the box, prompting the referee to flash a yellow card at the faltering Spaniard and point to the spot kick. But Hamedallah fired the ball way above the crossbar.
That miss proved very costly because Lekhwiya regrouped quickly after this respite and scored three goals within a span of 19 minutes to pick up three points. Lekhwiya, who were on a two-match losing streak, have climbed to second spot with this win, taking their tally to 37 points from 19 games. Jaish have been pushed down to third and have 26 points. Al Rayyan are at top of the heap with 51 points from their 19 games so far.
In the first game yesterday, Kharaitiyat, coached by Amar Osim, saw Mesaimeer open the scoring through Saoud Nasser Mohmad in the 21st minute. It was only the 12th goal for Mesaimeer in the entire season.
But then Kharatiyat produced a strong fightback after being a goal down. It started with Mohmad Abdul Abdulla getting the equaliser for Kharaitiyat in the 34th minute. The teams went into the break with the score tied at 1-1.
In the second half, Kharaitiyat took the lead through their captain Abdallah Albattat who found the back of the net in the 50th minute. After a series of hard tackles and rough exchanges, Kharaitiyat added to their lead through Yahia Kebe who scored in the 78th minute.
Coach Osim was frustrated to see two of his players - Domingos Nascimento Santos and Mohammed Ibrahim al Abdulla - pick up yellow cards despite his side leading in the match.
Eleventh-placed Kharaitiyat now have a tally of 21 points from 19 matches while Mesaimeer failed to add to their tally of 4 points. Mesaimeer have conceded an astonishing 50 goals in their 19 matches so far.
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