Wakrah out of danger zone after shocking Lekhwiya

Al Wakrah staved off relegation in the Qatar Stars League with a 2-0 upset victory over Lekhwiya yesterday evening.
Goals at the end of each half from Mouhcine Moutouali and Mahir Yousef gave the Blue Waves a much-needed win despite Lekhwiya enjoying an astounding 62% of possession in the match. The four-time champions were, however, wasteful in front of the goal, missing several chances that came their way.
Al Wakrah  opened the scoring in the 37th minute, courtesy of Moutouali. A bulldozing run from the impressive Yousef pushed the Lekhwiya defence back. At the second time of asking, Yousef slipped the ball to the Moroccan midfielder who calmly curled the ball past Lekhwiya keeper Ivanildo Rodrigues.
In the second half, Lekhwiya came out with renewed vigor, and had two headed chances that should have found the back of the net —   first from Spanish defender Chico Flores and the second from striker Alain Dioko, whose flicked header frustratingly trickled out of play.
Lekhwiya continued to push and brought on midfielders Karim Boudiaf and Nam Tae Hee. It didn’t take them long to open Wakrah up with an intricate passing move but unfortunately Alain Dioko fluffed his lines at the vital moment.
Wakrah were without striker Sebastian Saez through injury, but had an able replacement in the form of Yousef who put in a man-of-the-match performance for his side. After being pinned back for the majority of the second half, Wakrah sprung on the break to deliver a second goal and guarantee all three points.
A fine run in the 84th minute from Moutouali pulled in the Lekhwiya defence, and a pass to the unmarked Yousef saw him calmly slot the ball into the bottom right hand side of the goal to give Mauricio Larriera’s side the vital three points.
Meanwhile, second-placed El Jaish and relegation threatened Qatar Sports Club played out a 1-1 draw at the Lekhwiya Stadium.
The first half was a cagey affair with both goalkeepers producing some fine saves to keep their teams in the game. Qatar SC had the majority of chances in the first half but El Jaish stopper Khalifa Abubakar produced some vital blocks to keep his side in the tie.
 In the final play of the first half, the Kings took the lead with Mohammed al-Rabiei on target. Emiliano Vechio’s perfectly delivered corner kick found Rabei in a crowded box and the Qatari defender made no mistake as he headed the ball straight past Khalifa Abubakar.
Abderrazak Hamdallah equalised for El Jaish from a spot kick in the 68th minute. The Moroccan calmly slotted home the penalty which brings his season tally to seventeen goals. The penalty came after Hamdallah was brought down in the box by Qatar SC’s defender and goal-scorer, Mohammed al-Rabiei
 Jassim al-Mullah got himself a red card for a rash challenge in the Qatar SC box in the eighty sixth minute.
 The match ended in a 1-1 draw and this means Qatar SC are still in the drop zone level on points with twelfth placed Al Kharaitiyat, but behind on goal difference. El Jaish remain in second spot with forty-four points from twenty-four games.
Meanwhile, in a late match, champions Al Rayyan fell to a 2-1 defeat to Al Gharafa.
For Al Rayyan, who won the tounament with several games to spare, it was only their third defeat in 24  QSL matches.