Al Duhail defeated Umm Salal 1-0 in Week 12 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Qatar SC Stadium yesterday.
Eduardo Rodriguez (Dudu) scored the all-important goal in the 12th minute.
The result saw Al Duhail raise their tally to 24 points with their eighth victory and Umm Salal remain on 10 points following their sixth defeat.
Going into the match, Umm Salal had not lost their last four games. However, they could not do much against reigning champions Al Duhail, who are in their usual selves of late after initial struggles.
Al Duhail had stormed into the top four by beating Al Khor (6-1) in Week 10 and The Red Knights then beat Al Ahli 5-3 to finish the first leg of the tournament in third position.
Dudu scored the winner in the 12th minute and the stalemate remained right throughout.
Al Duhail dominated the ball with 65 per cent in the first half. Abdullah al-Ahrak set up Almoez Ali in the 39th minute, but the latter could not find the target.
For Umm Salal, Kayke Rodriguez and Abdennour Belhosini made serious attempts in the first half.
Both teams continued to create chances in the second session, but the deadlock remained.
Gharafa hold Qatar SC
Later at the same venue, Al Gharafa fought back to play out a 2-2 draw with Qatar SC.
Qatar SC’s goals were scored by Ahmed Fadel (41st minute) and Youcef Belaili (45+2 penalty), while Al Gharafa replied through goals from Ahmed al-Janehi (54th minute) and Jonathan Kodjia (59th-minute penalty).
Qatar SC and Al Gharafa are now on 20 and 23 points respectively.
The long session of hits and misses came to end – via a VAR call in the 43rd minute — when Fadel on an assist by Alejandro Galvez fired into the lower right of the Al Gharafa goal. The referee used the VAR review to check the potential off-side call before allowing the goal to stay.
In injury time, Al Gharafa’s Tameem al-Muhaza brought Belaili down with a rough sliding tackle resulting in a penalty. Qatar SC went 2-0 up as Belaili easily converted the spot kick.
Trailing by two goals, Al Gharafa hit back with two quick goals in the second half.
First, al-Janehi jumped high to tap a cross into the net from close range.
Then, Kodjia converted a penalty kick awarded after he was brought down inside the box and the referee awarded the penalty after a VAR review.
A quarter of an hour later, Kodjia nearly scored a winner from close range on a long cross from Hanni. However, Kodjia’s quick-footed drive was pouched by Qatar SC keeper.
Al Arabi beat Al Khor
At Al Arabi Stadium, the home team beat Al Khor 3-0 courtesy goals from Mehrdad Mohammadi (18th minute), Mehdi Torabi (38th minute) and Abdulrahman Anad (71st minute).
The Dream Team, who have now completed a hat-trick of wins, now have four victories and 15 points.
Al Khor’s miseries compounded as they crashed to their seventh defeat and stood on seven points, very much in the danger zone, as the tournament entered the second leg.
Both teams fought hard with the aim of bettering their position in the league, Al Arabi to move up the ladder and Al Khor to stay away from the danger zone.
In the end, Al Arabi had the last laugh as they put behind their disappointments in the first leg and began the second leg on a confident note by achieving their third successive victory. Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men had beaten Al Kharaitiyat 3-1 in Week 10 and Al Sailiya 1-0 in Week 11.
Mehrdad opened the scoring through an attack that also involved Torabi and Ahmed Fathy.
Torabi doubled the lead by putting the ball past goalkeeper Baba Djibril after receiving a pass from Sebastian Soria.
Al Arabi had more possession (56 per cent) in both halves even though Al Khor had their chances.
Abdulrahman Anad made it 3-0 with a rising shot which could have been poached by Djibril, but the latter fumbled with his collection and the ball drifted into the goal.
Al Khor now have their back to the wall as The Knights have only one point more than bottom-placed Al Kharaitiyat.
Duhail’s Dudu (centre) vies for the ball with Umm Salal’s Moses Orkuma (right) during the QNB Stars League match yesterday.
