Duhail cruise past Rayyan, Sadd rally to beat Gharafa 2-1

Al Duhail continued their fine form in the QNB Stars League with a comprehensive 5-3 victory over title rivals Al Rayyan at the Al Sadd Stadium yesterday.  With both sides coming into the game unbeaten, it was Al Duhail who applied the most pressure in the early exchanges and they went ahead in the 30th minute.Moaaz Abdalla was brought down in the penalty area and Duhail’s forward Yousef al-Arabi stepped up to fire it into the back of the net.  With the first half drawing to a close, Karim Boudiaf’s delightful lofted pass over the opposition defence was expertly volleyed on the turn by captain Yousef Msanki, who left the goalkeeper stranded as Duhail went into the break 2-0.Ten minutes into the second half, Duhail won another penalty with Youssef al-Arabi once more firing home for his fourth goal of the season. Duhail’s South Korean midfielder Nam Tae-Hee made it 4-0 as he scored with a left footed strike.Rayyan then really came to life and started to apply constant pressure. They got two quick goals from substitute Abderrazzaq Hamedallah and Sebastian Soria, which setup a grand finish.Deep into injury time, the Lions grabbed a third as Soria pounced on a defensive error, But Duhail restored their two-goal lead through Ali Yahya to a huge stride towards their title ambitions. For Bruno Oliveira side it was three wins out of three, propelling them to the top of the QNB Stars League standings with Al Sadd. As for Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup the only positive from the game is how his team responded after trailing by three goals, but will feel they should have got hold off the game earlier on. Meanwhile, Al Sadd continued their unbeaten run with a 2-1 win over Al Gharafa at Al Sadd Stadium. Al Sadd started the game on the front foot with good possession of the ball, however, there was no real threat in front of goal. Midway through the first half, Al Gharafa started to come out and dominate more of the possession. The Cheetahs got their reward in the 28th minute when Vadimir Weiss was brought down in the box. Luis Jimenez stepped up to take the penalty and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. The Wolves almost got back into the game when Hamroun Jugurtha had a bit of space at the edge of the box. However, the forward delivered a low shot into the safe hands of Qasem Burhan. In the dying minutes of the first half, Gharafa almost got their second goal of the game through an individual effort from Othman al-Yahri. The midfielder received the ball at the half way mark and managed to dribble past three defenders but his shot from the edge of the box didn’t have the power to trouble Al Sadds goalkeeper Saad al-Dosari. There was a major turnaround at the start of the second half when Gharafa’s Ilyas Muhammad was sent off for a second bookable offence. Sadd took advantage of the extra man and got the equaliser in the 56th minute. Captain Xavi played a beautiful through ball to Boualem Khoukhi, who cut in into his preferred left foot and scored with a beautiful finish.The Wolves maintained the pressure on Gharafa’s goal, and Xavi almost got on the scoresheet with a half volley from the edge of the box after a good team play. But the Spaniard’s shot failed to trouble the keeper. Sadd finally managed to break Gharafa’s defence and got the winner in the 89th minute. A brilliant cross from Hassan al-Haydos was headed into the net by Morteza Mohamed as Sadd completed a comeback win. The defeat meant Al Gharafa are still looking for their first win over Al Sadd in the last five years. Sadd remain unbeaten in the league and share the top spot with Duhail. Kharaitiyat held by Al KhorIn the day’s other game, Al Kharaitiyat came into the game against Al Khor knowing a win was vital to get their season up and running following their poor start to the season. But their persistence didn’t quite pay off after a last minute equaliser from Al Khor ended the game 1-1.The match started in a cagey fashion, with both teams keen not to give anything away.  With half time approaching, Kharaitiyat’s Sanjar Tursunov won possession in the centre of the pitch before spreading out wide to Racihid Tibkanine, who accelerated into the area from the left hand side, turned his man and sweetly struck the ball in the far bottom corner to give them the lead.The game became much more open in the second half and Al Khor were finding greater space in which to attack. Madson was particularly threatening with only the post preventing his 25 yard free kick from finding the back of the net.As the game neared the end, Anwar Deya had the chance to double the advantage and secure the points for Al Kharaitiyat, receiving a through ball in the area, he had time to look up and pick his spot but was denied by a fantastic save from Al Khor’s goalkeeper, Gheith al-Mohannadi.Minutes later The Thunders were made to pay as Saoud al-Khallaqi drove into the opposition’s area from the left before cutting it back to Madson who was on hand to score and secure a dramatic point for Al Khor. Al Kharaitiyat will be disappointed to have conceded so late on but surely are encouraged by a much more positive performance from the 1-1 draw.