Al Rayyan's Yohan Boli (centre) controls the ball during yesterday's match.
Doha: Qatari football giants Al Rayyan were pushed to their limits and were surprisingly held in an 1-1 draw by Al Khor in their Round-15 clash of the QNB Stars League (QSL) yesterday.
At the Al Khor Stadium, the hosts, currently placed 10th in the QSL points table, took the lead in the 55th minute through Tiago Bezerra before Yohan Boli levelled in the 68th minute.
Al Rayyan moved to 32 points, but they dropped two crucial points that will have a strong bearing on their final position as they are strong title contenders along with leaders Al Duhail and reigning champions Al Sadd.
For Al Khor, it was a valuable point in their bid to survive in the top flight. They are now on 11 points.
Al Rayyan had 69 per cent possession of the ball and forced 13 corner kicks as against Al Khor’s two, to underline their domination.
Yacine Brahimi, Rodrigo Tabata and Abdulaziz Hatem pulled the The Lions’ strings from the middle as Yohan Boli spearheaded their challenge.
At the other end, Tiago, Ahmed Hammoudan and January recruit Lucca Borges led Al Khor’s charge.
After a barren first half, Tiago put Al Khor ahead as he cashed in a faulty clearance by rival goalkeeper Fahad Younis by shooting into the goal with a bicycle kick.
Al Khor could have doubled the lead soon after that, but Hammoudan hit against the post after rounding the goalkeeper.
Boli then pulled one back for Al Rayyan with a header.
Al Rayyan’s Dame Traore received his marching orders deep into stoppage time after being booked for a second time.
It was the second time in successive weeks that Al Khor and Al Rayyan were facing off as the latter beat the former in the Ooredoo Cup quarterfinals in sudden death.
Al Rayyan had beaten Al Khor 2-0 in the first leg.
Elsewhere, Al Sailiya clinched their 6th win of the season when they overpowered Qatar SC 1-0 at Qatar SC Stadium.
Al Sailiya were helped by an own goal by Elmehdi Barrahma in the 84th minute as they moved on to 20 points.
Qatar SC remained on 16 points.
It was Al Sailiya’s sixth victory, whereas Qatar SC crashed to their seventh defeat.
The result was a blow to Qatar SC, who had remained unbeaten ever since the start of second leg of the tournament.
