Al Wakrah scored a thumping 4-0 win over Umm Salal to go top of the QNB Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium on Monday. The Blue Waves now have seven points from three matches. The goals for Al Wakrah came in the fifth minute (Mohamed Benyettou), 19th minute (Ali Mohamed, own goal), and in the 28th and 58th minutes (Jacinto Dala).
Umm Salal, who had held Al Sadd to a 1-1 draw in their previous encounter, were done in by two big lapses in the defence in the early part of the first half from where they just could not recover.
Defender Ali Bazmandegan was at the receiving end as Al Wakrah made a telling start. In the first, Ali tried to deflect back an Al Wakrah cross to his goalkeeper Samy Beldi, but the ball bounced from his hands and a waiting Benyettou seized the chance to score.
The second goal was a result of Ali being caught off guard inside the box by Benyettou whose powerful kick deflected off Ali’s foot and beat a stretched goalkeeper to his left.
The thrilling action for Al Wakrah continued with Mohamed Hassan heading a cross which too bounced out of the goalkeeper’s hands and this time a lurching Dala scored delightfully to make it 3-0.
Qatar SC beat Sailiya for first win
Earlier, Qatar SC edged past Al Sailiya 2-1 at the Khalifa International Stadium. Qatar SC star Sebastian Soria was involved in both goals, first assisting Anthony Okpotu to score (38th minute), and later scoring off a penalty himself (54th minute).
The penalty was awarded when Sailiya’s Bilal Saidani handled the ball while tackling a charging Badr Benoun inside the box. Sailiya pulled one back with an exciting play with their star winger Giannis Fetfatzidis making a brilliant backflip for Mohamed Muddather to score with a fine finish (68th minute).
This was Qatar SC’s first three valuable points after having gone down to Al Arabi and scoring a draw against Al Markhiya in the first two games. Al Sailiya have finished on the other side of the result in two of their three games so far.
Duhail, Rayyan face off on Tuesday
Al Duhail and Al Rayyan will be aiming for their first win when they clash at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday. Duhail and Rayyan are languishing in 10th and 12th positions respectively after below-par performance in the first two matches.
Duhail suffered a 2-4 defeat against Al Wakrah in the opening match, before being held by Al Ahli last week. Rayyan’s have lost both their match against Al Shamal and Al Arabi, the Lions’ squad missing many player including injured James Rodrigues.
Going into the match, Duhail are the favourites but coach Hernan Crespo is wart of Rayyan. “Despite their loss in the first two matches, they’re a dangerous team. But we’re on the right path and if we keep working hard, wins will follow,” he said.
Rayyan coach Nicolas Cordova was hoping for the first win. “In the past two matches, we weren’t lucky enough to win the points we deserved. Against Arabi, some small details made the difference. Our goal is now to win against Duhail,” he said.
In the other match of the day, Al Arabi (six points), the only team to have won both their matches so far, take on Al Markhiya (four) at the Education City Stadium.
