Al Duhail’s Youssef El Arabi (left) scores their winning goal against Al Arabi yesterday.
Doha: Al Sailiya yesterday stunned former champions Al Gharafa 2-1 with a winning strike in injury time at Al Ahli Stadium.
Substitute Mohamad Rajeb produced a stunning header with a full-length forward dive to score Al Sailiya’s winning goal. Earlier Mashaal Qassim Al Shammari scored Al Sailiya’s first goal in the 73rd minute.
For Al Gharafa, the only goal was scored by Vladimir Weiss off a penalty in the 51st minute.
In the 15th minute of the fast-paced match, Al Gharafa’s Mehdi Taremi latched on to a loopy cross inside the Al Sailiya box. With only goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater to beat from close range, Taremi delayed his deflection allowing Al Khor defender Mauricio Donizeti Junior to block his shot near the goal.
In the 22nd minute, Al Gharafa’s Slovakian midfielder Weiss was brought down with a rough tackle by Mirgani Alzain and Swiss referee Urs Dominik Schnyder promptly penalised the Al Khor offender.
In the 37th minute, George Kwesi produced a neat tackle on Weiss inside the Al Khor box but the latter was penalised by referee Schnyder with a yellow card for diving. Two minutes later, Al Khor’s Abdulkareem Al Ali was also shown a yellow card.
Three minutes from the first-half whistle, Al Gharafa’s Abdelaziz Mohammed aimed at the Al Khor goalmouth but his fast-paced shot missed its target narrowly.
Soon after the resumption of play in the fast-paced match, Al Gharafa grabbed the lead. Weiss was brought down by Al Sailiya keeper Al Khater. The referee awarded a penalty and Weiss easily converted from the spot kick in the 51st minute.
Exactly at the hour mark, Al Sailiya coach benched Al Ali and brought in Rajeb who would go on to score the match-winning goal. A minute later, Al Gharafa’s Taremi broke free of his marker after receiving a cross from the centre but he ended up overrunning the ball with only keeper Al Khater to beat.
In the 73rd minute, a keeper’s gaffe from Yousuf Ali, an U-23 player, allowed Al Sailiya to equalise. Ali, standing a couple of feet outside his own box, failed to clear a loopy ball that flew in his direction. Ali’s shot bounced off substitute Al Shammari who drove the ball into an open net with a left-footed shot.
In injury time (90 + 3), Rajeb the substitute produced a deft header with a forward lunge on a loopy cross from the flank to score Al Sailiya’s winning strike.
Meanwhile, points leaders Al Duhail yesterday relied on a first-half strike by Youssef El Arabi to beat Al Khor 1-0 in their round 12 clash.
El Arabi, one of the top players in the country, scored from penalty kick in the 35th minute to help coach Nabil Maaloul’s side pick up three points.
In just the 5th minute of the match at Al Khor Stadium, referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim penalised Luiz Martin Junior with a yellow card for a rough tackle in the early part of the round 11 clash.
After neither side managed to get the break, high-scoring Al Duhail striker El Arabi finally broked the deadlock and put his name on the scorer’s list when he converted an easy penalty.
El Arabi was brought down by Khaled Radwan Hassan inside the Al Khor box and the referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim promptly pointed to the spot kick.
El Arabi, who takes rather long route before kicking the ball, slotted his spot kick to the left of keeper Mohammed Al-Bakri to put his side 1-0 ahead. It was the Moroccan’s 15th goal of the QNB Stars League season which is just into its fourth month.
Al Duhail walked off the pitch with a slender 1-0 lead at halftime but U-23 player Abdullah Al-Ahrak wasted a golden opportunity to score from close seven minutes into the second half.
In the 83rd minute, Al Duhail’s Mohamed Moosa was penalised with a yellow for seemingly elbowing into Diogo Da Silva. A minute later, Luiz of Al Duhail once again went for a long-range left-footed shot that narrowly sailed above the Al Khor crossbar.
After a few quick exchanges, Al Duhail held on to their slender lead to post their 11th win of the season.
Elsewhere, goals from Baghdad Bounedjah (7 and 45+2) and Hassan Al Haydos (49) sealed an easy 3-0 win for Al Sadd against struggling Al Arabi at the Al Arabi Stadium.
