Veteran Rodrigo Tabata scored in each half as Al Rayyan carried on with their good form in the QNB Stars League with a 5-0 thrashing of Qatar Sports Club Saturday.
Mohamed Alaaleldin put the Lions ahead in the ninth minute and there was no looking back after that as Tabata helped them consolidate in the 16th before Franck Kom (28th and Yacinie Brahimi (35th) ensured a 4-0 lead at half-time.
The rout was completed when Tabata netted his second goal in the 70th minute as Al Rayyan took their tally to 15 after seven matches.
Coming into the game, Qatar SC would have been looking to alleviate any early pressure, but their high-flying opponents were hungry and quickly finding opportunities.
Firstly, Kom saw his thunderous shot ricochet off the crossbar before Yacine tested the goalkeeper from close range. The resulting corner drew the first goal of the match as Mohamed Alaa latched onto Tabata’s cross and poked home at the near post.
Qatar SC did not come simply to make up the numbers and had a good couple of chances to equalise in quick succession. First, Kayke Rodrigues could not quite find the target before Abdenasser Elkhayati hit a lovely shot which Fahd Younis did well to save and force a corner.
They did score from the corner, but the goal was disallowed for a handball infringement.
Al Rayyan were in a riotous mood and their lead was quickly doubled when Tabata raced through the defence to carefully and emphatically steer his volley past the hapless Jassim al-Hail.
The pressure intensified and next up was Kom, who rose unchallenged to divert Tabata’s corner into the back of the net with his head. The match as a contest was effectively finished in the 35th minute when Ahmed Abdelmaqsoud released Yacine into the box and the attacker snuck his shot past the goalkeeper to take an unassailable lead into half-time.
Despite the score line, Qatar SC had put up a good performance and came out in the second half looking to match the positive intensity, but they were unfortunate to not take at least one of their chances.
Al Rayyan were less generous, however, and Tabata completed the scoring when he whipped a glorious 25-yard free-kick into the far corner to seal a fine victory for the title contenders.
Meanwhile, Karim Ansari inflicted a double blow on Al Wakrah as Al Sailiya beat them 3-1.
Ansari scored in the 27th and 55th minutes. Meshaal al-Shammari (69th minute) was the scorer for Al Sailiya as The Peregrines’ points tally swelled to 10. It was the third victory for Tunisian Sami Trabelsi’s men.
Omar Ali scored Al Wakrah’s goal in the 42nd minute as he converted a penalty, awarded after George Kwesi fouled Mohamed Benyettou.
Al Wakrah, coached by Spaniard Marquez Lopez, stood on seven points after crashing to their fourth defeat.
The first half was evenly fought with invariably an equal amount of possession on either side.
Ansari opened the scoring with an angular shot after being fed by Boussoufa Mbark. It was an amazing display of ball control skills by the Iranian striker, who was Al Sailiya’s spearhead.
Ansari soon attempted a similar shot from almost the same spot, but his grounder was dealt with by the rival defence.
Following Al Wakrah’s equaliser, Ansari’s goal in the 44th minute was disallowed for offside through VAR after he volleyed home a free-kick by Boussoufa.
Al Sailiya’s Serigne Mbodji had a header go inches wide in stoppage time. at the other end, Sanchez Isaias and Ousmane Coulibaly were off-target for Al Wakrah.
The second half started in brisk fashion and Mbodji headed the ball wide for a second time.
Al Sailiya steadily upped their ante and succeeded in finding the target twice more. Ansari was at it again, with Meshaal doing all the hard work on the right.
Meshaal himself then found the mark with a chip shot after holding off Al Wakrah goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater.
Al Wakrah, who earned promotion to the top flight after playing in the Second division for two seasons, would rue the defensive mistakes.
Meanwhile, in the third match of the day, Al Ahli drew Al Shahania 2-2.
Rodrigo Tabata of Al Rayyan (left) tries to get past a Qatar Sports Club player.
