Al Rayyan's Yacine Brahimi (left) in action during yesterday's match.
Doha: Al Rayyan struck late with a magnificent brace from substitute Yacine Brahimi to clinch a 2-0 win over Al Ahli in their Ooredoo Cup Round 4 (Group B) match played at the Al Arabi Stadium yesterday.
The victory, their first in the group stage, increased Al Rayyan's points tally to four.
Al Ahli's third defeat in four matches meant they only have just one point which they earned after drawing 1-1 with Umm Salal in the third round.
Yesterday also it looked like the match was heading for a draw until the final few minutes before Algerian star Brahimi took advantage of an 85th minute penalty.
Brahimi converted the penalty and then produced a brilliant finish for his second goal of the match just a minute later.
Ivorian Yohan Boli received a long cross from the flank as early as the third minute, but the striker missed an easy tap into the net from close range when he took the shot on the volley.
In the next 10 minutes, two close chances went waste when Al Ahli’s Hazem Shehata unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the box and his shot kissed the crossbar and flew away.
Moments later, Al Rayyan’s Ibrahim Masoud also muffled a shot from close range as Al Ahli goalkeeper quickly moved in to kill the angle of the shot. Soon after the first water break on the half-hour mark, Boli produced a snap-header from close range, but his deflection was smartly blocked by Al Ahli goalkeeper Yazan Naim.
On the hour mark, Abdulrahman Al Harazi was benched and in walked Brahimi. In the 65th minute, Franck Kom produced a neat slip pass to Brahimi, who failed to outduel his marker within striking range of the Al Ahli goal.
Nine minutes later, Al Ahli skipper Omid Ebrahimi curled in a spectacular shot from the edge of the box, but Al Rayyan goalkeeper Saoud Al Hajri was alert to the situation and dived to his left to collect the ball.
Then came Brahimi’s goals. The penalty was awarded when he was brought down by Fahad Ahmed. The Algerian attacking midfielder scored his second goal with a surprise shot.
Meanwhile, Umm Salal defeated Al Kharaitiyat 2-1 at Al Khor Stadium, thanks to goals from Adnan Mustafa (64) and Elis Hamid (87). Ivan Mensah (61) scored Al Kharaitiyat's goal.
Al Arabi Stadium, Al Gharafa and Al Arabi were involved in a goalless draw in the third match of the day.
The result raided Al Gharafa's points tally to 10 at the top of the table in Group B while Al Arabi are second with eight points.
Today, Al Duhail face Qatar SC in the first Group A match of the day at the Qatar SC Stadium. Al Sadd will meet Al Khor at the same venue in the day's second match while Al Sailiya and Al Wakrah face off at Al Khor Stadium in the final game of the round.
