Sadd ease past Rayyan to go four points clear

AlSadd beat Al Rayyan 4-0 in the Qatar Clasico to extend their lead tofour points in the  QNB Stars League yesterday. Earlier reigningchampions Al Duhail dropped two points after being held to a goalless bydraw by Al Gharafa. Al Sadd had won the Qatar Clasico against AlRayyan in the first leg by a 5-0 margin. Baghdad Bounedjah (33rdminute), Abdelkarim Hassan (35th), Akram Afif (62nd-min penalty and 72ndminute) scored the goals as Al Sadd moved to 44 points, four ahead ofAl Duhail and 14 more than Al Rayyan.It was Al Sadd’s 14th victoryin the 2018-19 season QNB Stars League, the most by any team, while AlRayyan suffered their third defeat. The 76th-minute red card to strikerSebastian Soria, for second booking, made matters worse for Al Rayyan.AlSadd’s Gabi Fernandez too was sent off in the 82nd minute for foulingKhalfan Ibrahim in the ‘D’. In front of a large crowd at the Al SaddStadium, which wore a festive look for the big date in Qatar footballwith Fan Zone among other activities, the hosts meant businessthroughout.Al Sadd took the lead through tournament top scorerBounedjah who slotted home the rebound from Fahad Younis who blockedGabi’s shot. The lead was doubled two minutes later through Abdelkarimwho headed in a corner kick taken by Akram as The Wolves took thehalf-time break with a two-goal cushion. Captain Hassan al-Haydos had ashot hit against the crossbar in the 19th minute. At the other end, AlRayyan’s Lucca Borges’ shot was blocked by Al Sadd goalkeeper Saadal-Dossari a couple of minutes later.After one hour, Al Sadd made it3-0 when Akram converted from the spot after referee Khamis al-Kuwariawarded a penalty, awarded for Koh Myong-Jin pulling down Pedro whochased a free-kick taken by Akram. Akram rounded off the tally with hissecond goal of the night following a Bounedjah assist. Earlier, AlGharafa and Al Duhail played out an entertaining goalless draw. However,the result dented a blow to Al Duhail’s bid to retain the title as theysuffered their fourth draw to lag behind leaders Al Sadd. Al Duhailmoved to 40 points and Al Gharafa 19.Al Gharafa started off brisklyand earned a corner kick soon after the start, only to see AhmedAlaaeldin head the ball straight to goalkeeper Amine Lecomte off a kicktaken by Abdulaziz Hatem. However, it was Al Duhail who had more chancesand ball possession once they settled down. While captain Karim Boudiafsent a wayward shot, new Japanese recruit Shoya Nakajima and team’s topscorer Yousef El Arabi came close to scoring with their attempts.Qatar’s Asian Cup triumph fame Bassam al-Rawi almost put Al Duhail inthe lead when he sent a free-kick slightly over the bar as the firsthalf drew to a close. Al Gharafa were more in the game in the secondhalf and Alaaeldin tested Lecomte with a powerful, rising shot from topof the box around the hour mark.Al Duhail, in their bid to intensifythe attack, brought in Ali Afif in place of Luis Martin and then PaoloEdmilson replaced striker Mohamed Muntari. The move looked fruitful asEdmilson found the net in the 70th minute off a counter-attack, butreferee Abdulhadi al-Ruaile ruled the goal offside after referring toVideo Assistant Referee. Ali Afif came up with a feeble shot andEdmilson beat goalkeeper Yousef Hassan, who had a good game, in the 86thminute, but Al Gharafa defender Ilyas Ahmed saved the ball at thegoalline. Al Duhail’s new signing and Moroccan defender MehdiBenatia then headed the ball straight to the goalkeeper off a cornerkick in the 90th minute as the stalemate continued at the Al GharafaStadium.Edmilson was more enterprising as Nakajima and El Arabi bothhad a subdued game. The result was a big consolation for Al Gharafa,who had lost to Umm Salal in the previous round.