Sadd jump to top, Al Markhiya and Rayyan also win

AlSadd extended their winning run to five matches and jumped to the topof the standings while new boys Al Markhiya finally claimed their firstfull points during an interesting day’s action in the QNB Stars Leagueyesterday.Thirteen-times champions Al Sadd were in a class all theirown as they saw off Al Arabi 3-1 in a match billed as the “Qatar Derby”a couple of hours after Al Markhiya had edged out Al Khor 1-0 for theirfirst win of the tournament.Al Markhiya’s upset victory over AlSadd earlier in the event was overturned after it emerged they hadfielded an ineligible player.The prolific Baghdad Bounedjah gave AlSadd the lead as early as in the fourth minute with a cracking shot fromclose after the entire Al Arabi defence, including goalkeeper MuhannadNaim, had left their positions in a moment of panic leaving the goalexposed.Immediately afterwards, Al Sadd could have consolidated but Boualem Khoukhi fired into the side netting from point blank rangeAlArabi barely kept their wits about them during the first 30 minutesduring which their defence  was exposed threadbare by Al Sadd.Andsure enough Al Sadd extended their advantage with Qatar internationalPedro Corriea blasting home from the top of the box in the 26th minuteafter receiving an excellent cross from Hassan al-Haydous.Bounedjah thought he had his second goal a few minutes later but he was adjudged offside.AlArabi’s Khalfan Ibrahim produced some moments of brilliance to keep theAl Sadd defence on its toes but was unlucky not to score on at least acouple of occasions in the first half.However, Diego Jardel gave AlArabi some hope with a thundering shot from outside the box which the AlSadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb failed to stop properly, the balltrickling into the goal.Bounedjah was shown the yellow card in thesecond goal after scoring again from an offside position and arguingwith the referee in protest.After al-Haydous and Jugurtha Hamrounhad missed chances, substitute Ali Asadalla found the net in injury timeto give Al Sadd an ultimately comfortable victory.Newcomers Al Markhiya’s win came thanks to a second half goal by Nasser Ibrahim.AymanMansour’s wards thus officially opened their account after theirvictory against Al Sadd in the first round was overturned for fieldingan ineligible player.Nasser beat Al Khor goalkeeper Baba Gibril, whoreplaced suspended first-choice custodian Amin Lecomte over hisaltercation with an Al Gharafa player in the previous round, hands downwith a defence-splitting pass from Saleh al-Yahri to give Al Markhiyatheir first win.Al Khor remained on four points. They had defeated Al Ahli and drawn with Al Kharaitiyat.AlKhor made many desperate attempts towards the end, their livewireMadson leading the charge, but to no avail. Their best chance for anequaliser came in the 78th minute when Soroush Hussein’s shot went offthe right upright.Earlier, after Al Markhiya made some initialforays in the first half which failed to live up to expectations, withKwame Karikari and Alain Traore at the helm, Al Khor took charge of theproceedings.Still, the intensity was less. After Soroush Hossein andMadson sent their feeble shots straight to goalkeeper MohammedMuntazar, defender Luciano Silva saw his header off a free-kick beingsaved by the rival custodian.Much-experienced captain Medhat Mustafa held the Al Markhiya defence together.Al Markhiya next face Al Kharaitiyat while Al Khor play Umm Salal.Meanwhile,Al Rayyan left it late to secure a crucial victory over Al Sailiya,thanks to a goal from impressive Moroccan Abderrazzak Hamdellah.Inwhat turned out to be an entertaining game, it was the away side whodominated possession, with Al Sailiya content to sit back and attack onthe counter.Sebastian Soria was particularly lively throughout,having been unfortunate to convert on several occasions, thanks to finegoalkeeping from The Peregrines’ Abdrahman Aziz.  Perhaps, the closestattempts of the first half fell to Al Sailiya’s in-from Brazilianmaestro Wagner Ribeiro, who first forced a fine save from Al Rayyan’sgoalkeeper before seeing his 30-yard effort strike the post momentslater.Al Sailiya did have the chance to break the deadlock in thesecond half as Abdulkholikov ran clear on goal. However, his attemptedchip was thwarted by rival goalkeeper Omar Barry. After Soria wassubstituted, more focus was on Hamdellah to take the lead role.Aftera couple of close attempts on goal, he got his reward in the 83rdminute after being felled in the penalty area amid protests from thehome side. He stepped up and duly struck the ball into the roof of theopposition net. Some late pressure did come from Al Sailiya, but it wastoo late to make a real difference.