Duhail scrape 2-1 win over Markhiya

Leaders and hosts Al Duhail scraped past Al Markhiya 2-1 after ahard-fought battle in Week 10 of the QNB Stars League yesterday. Goals by Youssef Msakni (ninth minute) and Nam Tae-hee (43rd) poweredthe reigning champions to their ninth victory and 28 points.Midfielder Saleh al-Yazidi scored Al Markhiya’s only goal in the 15th.Al Duhail opened the scoring when Msakni charged into the Al Markhiyabox and slipped past three defenders before firing a low shot pastgoalkeeper Mohamed Khuroob. It was his ninth goal this season.Six minutes later, feared striker Youssef El Arabi slipped in a neatcross from the flank, but Msakni’s snap-header did not have the pace tobeat Khuroon. Soon, Al Markhiya midfielder Al Yazidi equalised with a slickclose-range flick that crashed into the Al Duhail net, much to thehorror of Al Duhail coach Djamel Belmadi.Close to the half-hour mark, Al Markhiya’s Talal Ali got booked with ayellow card for bringing down Lucas Mendes of Al Duhail. In the 34thminute, star striker Youssef El Arabi headed home from close, but thelinesman ruled it off-side.Two minutes from half-time, South Korean Nam easily slotted one home from inside the Al Markhiya box.Both teams traded attacks in the second half, but neither could find thenet and Al Duhail picked up three valuable points in their title chase.Al Duhail face Al Sailiya and Al Markhiya play Umm Salal in Week 11.In another match yesterday, a late strike by forward Majed Mohamed steered Al Ahli past Al Sailiya 2-1.Majed supplemented the effort of team-mate Mohamed Muntari, who hadscored Al Ahlis first goal in the 24th minute. For Al Sailiya, ValentinLazar found the net in the 21st at the Al Ahli Stadium.Al Ahli’s third win took their points tally to 11.In an explosive start to the game, Al Sailiya’s Temurkhuja Abdukholiqovsmashed a powerful shot against the Al Ahli crossbar as early as thesecond minute. Standing unmarked near the edge of the box, the Uzbekforward unleashed a powerful shot that ricocheted off the horizontal,much to the relief in the rival camp.A minute later, Al Ahli’s Colombian import Cristian Nazaret weaved hisway into the Al Sailiya box with a slick move, but his narrow-angle shotfrom close range was smartly blocked by goalkeeper Mahamat Aziz, whohad charged out of his position on the goal-line.Al Sailiya opened the scoring through a solo move by Romanian midfielder Lazar, who found his fourth goal of the season. Three minutes later, Muntari raced into the Al Sailiya box and beat thegoalkeeper on his first attempt following a long ball from the midfieldthat landed perfectly in front of the Qatar forward. Late in the second half, Majed chose the perfect moment to score,beating Al Sailiya defender Mohamed Mustafa before calmly slotting theball past goalkeeper Aziz with a low shot in the 84th.Al Ahli are up against Al Rayyan, while Al Sailiya run into Al Duhail in the next round.