A player of Al Wakrah (in blue) chases a Qatar SC player during their QNB Stars League Round 6 clash at Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium yesterday. Qatar SC won 1-0.
Doha: Al Ahli yesterday beat Umm Salal 2-0 in Week 6 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Qatar SC Stadium yesterday.
Nabil El Zhar (30th and 44th minutes) scored both goals for Al Ahli as they moved on to 15 points with their fifth victory.
The Brigadiers, who are now back on top of the league table, have dropped points in only one match when they lost big-time (1-7) to Al Sadd.
Umm Salal remained on four points.
In the 16th minute, Umm Salal’s Rabeh Yahia Boussafi delivered a cross from the flank, but Al Ahli’s Shane Lowry nearly messed up with his clearance with a left-footed attempt in his own box.
The ball took a loopy aerial route, but Al Ahli keeper Ivanildo Rodrigues smartly pouched the floating shot.
Three minutes before the half-hour mark, Al Ahli’s Jasem Mohammed chased down a short cross from El Zhar and charged into the Umm Salal box.
Jasem smashed the ball into the top of the net, but the effort was ruled offside as his team-mate Hernan Perez was caught stationed close to the goalline with no defenders in sight.
Players of Al Ahli and Umm Salal battle for ball possession at the same venue. Al Ahli won 2-0.
However, a few minutes later, Al Ahli opened the scoring following a melee inside the Umm Salal box. After a few missed attempts by Al Ahli players, El Zhar fired a low shot that beat three defenders and the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Baba Malick before the ball crashed into the net.
Abdulrasheed Ibrahim Umaru found El Zhar with a slick cross from the flank, but the latter produced a wayward volley from inside the box with only the keeper to beat in the 37th minute. The second goal came when El Zhar, after receiving a short cross from Umaru, unleashed a bullet close to the edge of Umm Salal box and beat keeper Malick with a powerful shot that crashed into the net.
Both teams failed to score any goal in the second half, where Umm Salal’s Roozbeh Mohammad (53th), Mohammed Terazor (73rd) and Moses Orkuma (90+6) received yellow cards.
Also yesterday, Qatar SC beat Al Wakrah 1-0 at the Qatar SC Stadium yesterday.
Mohammed Youcef Belaili (17, penalty) scored the only goal of the match in the first half. It was Qatar SC’s second win from six matches in the new season. Qatar SC now have 6 points. Al Wakrah have 7 points from 6 matches.
In the 15th minute, Qatar SC’s Belaili found Nigerian striker Anthony Okpotu with a neat low cross close to the Al Wakrah box. After receiving the ball, Okpotu surged ahead to shoot but was brought down by Brazilian defender Lucas Mendes with a rough push.
Referee Nayef Mohamed Al-Kadiri immediately pointed to the spot kick and showed a yellow to Mendes in what was a fast-paced first half for both sides. Belaili calmly beat keeper Saoud Mubarak Al Khater – slamming the ball past his right hand - for his first goal of the new season just into Round 6.
Qatar SC fans – who had been allowed into the venue in limited number - celebrated in the stands as the home side went 1-0 in the 16th minute.
Five minutes before the end of the first half, Murad Naji Hussein of Al Wakrah curled in a beautiful long-range cross but his captain Mohamed Benyettou narrowly missed his target with his air-borne snap-header in the 40th minute.
At the end of the first-half action, despite conceding a goal, Al Wakrah enjoyed 54 percent of the ball possession. Despite fierce battle, constant stoppages slowed down the pace of the two sides close to the end of the first half.
In the 58th minute, Qatar SC’s Ahmed Fadhil Hesaba fired a long-range shot – taken from the edge of the box - that was saved by Al Wakrah keeper Al Khater with a dive to his right.
In the 86th minute, Qatar SC’s Ali Nozar Karimi curled in a long-range cross for Barrahma Elmehdi camped inside a crowded Al Wakrah box. Elmehdi’s slick header from close range was well blocked by keeper Al Khater.
In the day's third match yesterday, Al Khor and Al Sailiya played a goalless draw at Al Khor Stadium.
