The players of Qatar Sports Club celebrate after scoring a goal against Al Duhail in the QNB Stars League match at Al Janoub Stadium yesterday.
Al Duhail rallied from a goal down to overcome a spirited challenge of Qatar Sports Club 2-1 in the Round 1 match of the QNB Stars League at Al Janoub Stadium.
Coach Rui Faria’s side trailed by a goal till the 88th minute, but made enough ground to score two goals within a span of six minutes to collect full points from the match.
First, second-half substitute Youssef Msakni scored with two minutes to go for the final whistle and the killer blow came four minutes later with Almoez Ali delivering a clinical finish to suck the life out of Qatar SC in stoppage time.
Kabananga gave Qatar SC the lead in the 60th minute after good work from Abdenasser El Khayati on the left. At this point, Al Duhail had seemed below their best and lacking the firepower needed to break down a spirited Qatar SC side.
Qatar SC never got close to adding another goal. Instead, Al Duhail came roaring back to make them pay at the very end and finishing losing the game at the death.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli coach Ruben de la Barrera said they are satisfied with their preparations ahead of their Round One match against Al Arabi
“We’re satisfied with our preparations for the new season. At the same time, our first match against Al Arabi in the QNB Stars League will be difficult. We’ve made changes at the level of players to change the way we play,” Barrera said
“For us, it’s about our possibilities and we mustn’t lose to Al Sadd, Al Duhail and Al Rayyan. We realise that these teams have strong players and we don’t want the difference between us and them to be big.
“I still see that the two teams qualified to win the title are Al Duhail and Al Sadd, and other teams like Al Ahli, Al Arabi, Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa, can cause difficulties for Al Sadd and Al Duhail,” he added.
