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Substitute Jacinto Dala scored two goals as Al Wakrah defeated Umm Salal 3-2 in the Qatar Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium Friday. Despite The Blue Wave’s series of relentless attacks, they met a formidable wall of defence in Umm Salal, which they could not break down until the 54th minute when Hamdy Fathy found the net.Umm Salal got the equaliser in the 63rd minute through Cristo Gonzalez. Dala, who came in the 74th minute, restored Al Wakrah’s lead from the edge of the box in the 78th minute. Ironically, Dala turned from a hero to a villain nine minutes later when he mistakenly nodded the ball into his own net from an Umm Salal set piece. The Angolan international, however, got a redemption in two minutes of added time as he scored the winner.Al Shahania were beaten 1-2 by Al Ahli in their enthralling match at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. Pelle van Amersfoort opened the scoring for Al Shahania from the spot in the 14th minute after Al Ahli’s Driss Fettouhi fouled Mohammed Sayyar inside the box. The Dutchman made no mistake in converting with a right-footed shot, once the controversy that ensued following the penalty decision was resolved after a lengthy VAR check.The lone goal separated the two sides going into the half-time break. Parity was restored for Al Ahli in the 54th minute through Suhaib Gannan, who perfectly turned in a cross from Erik Exposito with ease. Twelve minutes later, Michel Vlap registered his name on the scorers’ sheet as Al Ahli took the lead, with the goal eventually proving to be the match winner.

Qatar SC scored a hard fought 1-0 win over Al Shahania in the fifth round of Qatar Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium Sunday to take the second spot in the standings with 13 points, and behind Al Shamal on goal difference.Al Rayyan beat Al Ahli 3-0 at the Al Thumama Stadium to move third in the table with 10 points, ahead of Al Gharafa on goal difference.At the Al Bayt Stadium Umm Salal prevailed 2-1 over Al Sailiya. Umm Salal are now 6th in standings with 8 points while bottom-placed Sailiya are yet to open their account.Brazilian forward Joao Pedro made the winning strike for Qatar SC in the 54th minute as he picked on an Eisa Palangi assist to dribble past defenders before essaying a kick from inside the top of the box into the far right corner of the net.Al Shahania, who were majorly confined to defence, made some big efforts to attack in the second half including a Daouda Soliman’s attempt to go over an advancing Qatar SC goalkeeper Ali Nader Mahmoud but in vain.Al Shahania are on four points following their third loss while Qatar SC have four wins and a draw in their unbeaten run so far.The Lions make a roarAl Rayyan handed Al Ahli a 0-3 defeat taking lead in the 29th minute through Rodrigo Machado, who finished off a pass from Wesley Ribeiro with a left-footed shot from very close range. The goal was, however, contested for an offside ruling against Aleksandar Mitrovic in its buildup, but the final decision, after a lengthy VAR check, ensured that it stood to the consternation of the Al Ahli bench and stand.Mitrovic made it two for the Lions just before the half-time break, nodding home the rebound of Rodrigo's attempt that bounced off the crossbar, as the coach Artur Jorge's men went into the dugout with a comfortable lead. While Al Ahli, who are enduring one of their worst starts to the season with only one win so far, tried to cut the deficit with some impressive play after their opponents' second goal.Luck was, however, not on their side, as Al Rayyan got their third in the 86th minute with Róger Guedes, assisted by Mohamed Surag, hammering home a right-footed shot from the left side of the box following a fast break to ensure an emphatic victory for the visiting team, who recorded their third win of the season.Umm Salal find winning waysUmm Salal bounced back to winning ways with a 2-1 defeat of Al Sailiya. The match appeared evenly balanced after the hour mark when Al Sailiya’s Omar Yahya conceded a penalty following a seemingly rash challenge on Umm Salal’s Abdulrahman Al Rashidi. The decision, which was heavily contested by Al Sailiya, eventually stood after a VAR check and the resultant spot kick was cleverly converted by Oussama Tannane in the 33rd minute. Umm Salal continued to be the better side on resumption of proceedings in the second half, offering waves of relentless attacks while pegging the visitors to their own half of the field for most of the encounter.Their efforts eventually paid off as they doubled their lead in the 80th minute, with Cristo Gonzalez making a brilliant overlapping run before squaring the ball to Rami Suhail to slide into an almost empty net.A consolation goal from Khalid Ali in one minute of added time ended up doing little to help Al Sailiya’s cause as Umm Salal ended up with the maximum points in their kitty.

Al Shamal continued their stunning start to the season as they beat Al Arabi 3-2 to open a two-point lead at the top of the Qatar Stars League.At the Al Bayt Stadium Saturday, Mohammad Mannai scored a brace (32nd and 68th minutes), while Baghdad Bounedjah scored the other goal from a penalty kick in the 64th minute. For Al Arabi, Yazan al-Naimat (45+1) and Jordan Veretout (72nd minute) were on target. It was Al Shamal’s fourth straight win in as many matches and took their tally to 12 points, two ahead of Qatar SC, who drew against Al Rayyan Saturday. Al Arabi are on four points.Shamal opened their account with a goal off a long corner kick which was intercepted by Bounedjah and pushed in by al-Manai. Arabi equalised as al-Naimat broke through and struck past defenders.On the hour mark, Arabi goalkeeper Yousef Hassan made two quick saves but then Alhashmi Mohialdin fouled against Bounedjah and the side was penalised with a penalty which the Algerian scored duly.Mannai’s second goal was a smooth effort from just inside the box and Shamal went 3-1 up. Frenchman Veretout made a fine strike to make it 2-3 for Arabi, but despite their best efforts they could not equalise again.Later, Qatar SC battled to a 1-1 draw against Al Rayyan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. In what turned out to be a thrilling 11 minutes of stoppage time, Ali Saoudi produced a blazing header (90+10’) for Qatar SC to equalise after Serbian striker Aleksander Mitrovic had fired in a goal (90+1 minute) for The Lions.With a point gained, Qatar SC’s stood second in the standings with 10 points while Al Rayyan moved up to seven points in fourth.In the 50th minute, an own goal by Qatar SC’s Nasir Baksh was ruled out for offside.The Lions rejoiced when Mitrovic fired in home from top of the box off a Roger Guedes assist but it was shortlived as Qatar SC’s Saoudi stormed in a fine Yan Mateus free kick to level score.It was goals galore at the Al Thumama Stadium as Al Ahli grabbed their first win defeating Al Wakrah. Ahli’s goals came from Fahad Waad (eighth minute own goal), Michel Vlap (27th & 72nd minutes), Suhaib Gannan (42nd minute) and Julian Draxler (89 minute). For Wakrah, Redouane Berkane (16th & 46th minutes) and Amin Zahzouh (35th minute penalty) scored.

Spanish coach Bartolome Marquez Lopez of Qatar SC did not hide the difficulty of his team's task in facing Al Ahli on Saturday, at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, as part of the third round of the Doha Bank Stars League.The Qatar coach added in a statement during the pre-match press conference: "We will face a strong competitor who performed well last season, but this season they haven't achieved a single point after the first two rounds. However, we have great respect for them. I told the players about the importance of complete focus on this match and performing at their best. We hope to be successful.""We have prepared well for the Al Ahli match and have trained as required over the past period. "We know this match will be difficult, and we hope to perform as well as possible to secure the three points," he added.For his part, Croatian coach Igor Biscan of Al Ahli confirmed : "My team will play one of our toughest matches this season against Qatar SC, one of the league's most prominent teams. "We need to focus on achieving victory and kick-start the team's journey this season, following two losses to Al Shamal and Al Sadd.""The team is in dire need of a win to overcome the difficulties. We did not perform at the required level against Al Shamal but performed well against Al Sadd. "However, we lacked some of the elements that would have enabled us to win," he stressed.Qatar SC ranks third in the Qatari league standings with 6 points, behind Al Shamal, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan, and Al Gharafa on goal difference, while Al Ahli sits in twelfth place with no points.