Not for nothing it’s called the ‘Qatar Clasico.’
With the best crowd of the current QNB Stars League season in attendance creating a lively ambience, the players must have felt they had an extra obligation to deliver.
And deliver they did – a thriller, no less, at the Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Stadium – as Al Rayyan buried their recent run of misfortunes against famed rivals Al Sadd with highly entertaining a 2-1 victory, with Abderrazzak Hamdallah and Koh Myong-Jin finding the net in the second half.
The win helped Michael Laudrup’s Lions to go level on points (15) with Al Sadd and Al Duhail after six matches, although they are in third position on goal difference.
Baghdad Bounedjah had earlier given Al Sadd a 12th minute lead, taking advantage of the empty spaces in the penalty area heading home from close.
Al Rayyan had suffered some of their most humiliating defeats against Al Sadd last season, but although they didn’t match the sensational margins of victory of the Wolves, it was good enough to ease their pains and put them in a better frame of mind for the matches ahead.
The Qatar Football Association had flown in Serbian referee Milodad Mazic for the match and the players took full advantage of his officiating.
Thanks to his liberal outlook – he waived several minor infringements resulting in a free-flowing game – players were able to express themselves fully on the field.
Al Rayyan escaped going down by a goal in the very first minute but Bounedjah’s shot was pouched by Omar Barry.
A couple of minutes later Pedro Correia’s shot hit the goalpost after taking a deflection, much to Al Rayyan’s relief.
But they didn’t have to wait long for the opening goal, Bounedjah finding himself in perfect position to head home a pass from Musab Kamal.
Al Rayyan pulled up their socks after that and came close to levelling the scores a couple of times.
In the 26th minute, Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb – who had an excellent match with several key save – got to the ball a fraction of a second earlier than Hamdallah to prevent a certain goal.
The introduction of Sebastian Soria in the 29th minute added some extra spark to the Al Rayyan forwardline and heightened tensions in the Al Sadd camp.
The Qatar international was barely on the field for two minutes when he got a chance to equalise, but his perfectly taken header off a 40-yard free-kick from Rodrigo Tabata was again saved by al-Sheeb.
The Al Sadd goalkeeper was in the thick of the action in the first two minutes of the second half, saving a shot from Hamdallah and beating Soria to the ball to keep his slate clean.
However, Al Rayyan finally got onto the scoresheet in the 55th minute when Hamdallah scored from close after the ball was relayed to him via Tabata and Soria.
Thereafter Jugurtha Hamroun saw his header deflected by Al Rayyan goalkeeper Barry as Al Sadd missed a golden opportunity. With Xavi and Hassan al-Haydous hardly making their presence felt for Al Sadd, Al Rayyan marginally looked the better team.
And sure enough they got the winner, Korean Koh doing most of the work on the left before scything past the Al Sadd defence and scoring in the 71st minute.
Earlier, Umm Salal got back to winning ways in the QNB Stars League, thanks to a nervy 1-0 victory over Al Khor at the Al Gharafa Stadium.
Needing to start the game well, the home side looked well organised against Laurent Banide’s Al Khor. However, they were largely restricted to shots from distance in the first half. Danger man Yannick Sagbo went close on two occasions, first shooting wide when in on goal and the second, a rocket of a shot from long range, was tipped around the post.
Immediately after the break, they found a way through the Al Khor defence, thanks to some good attacking play down the left. Left-back Rami Shamalah’s cross inside the area found Mohamed El Sayed who first looped the ball over the defender before scoring when in on goal at the second attempt.
Sagbo did have a chance to finish off the game late on as he latched onto a through ball over the top, but was unlucky to see his volley on the turn go over the bar.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli and Al Arabi played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Al Ahli Stadium.
Under-23 player Farid Ibrahim (50th minute) and defender Meshaal Mubarak (85th) scored for Al Ahli, while captain Ammar Jamal (21st) and Mardek Mardikian (64th) were on target for Al Arabi.
Al Ahli now have five points and Al Arabi four.