Nabil El Zahr struck a last-gasp equalizer as Al Ahli held Al Rayyan 1-1 in their Round-7 clash of the QNB Stars League (QSL) at the Al Ahli Stadium yesterday. The former champions Al Rayyan had taken the lead in the 77th minute through Franck Kom before Al Ahli fought back through El Zhar's injury time penalty (90+5). Al Ahli and Al Rayyan now have 16 and 11 points under their names respectively. The match - dubbed as the marquee clash of the week pitted together the high-flying Al Ahli and last season's runner-up Al Rayyan. Al Ahli, who are enjoying a memorable season so far, was looking for their sixth win in seven matches. Apart from the Round-5 hick-up where they lost to strong Al Sadd 1-7, Al Ahli had won all their games before yesterday's blockbuster clash. Both teams attacked from the word go, but a goal eluded the opening session.
In the first half, Gabriel Mercado sent his shot wide, Abdulaziz Hatem was thwarted by Al Ahli goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodriguez and Kom headed wide of the target for Al Rayyan, who continued to miss the services of their ace player Yacine Brahimi through illness. For Al Ahli, Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, Mohammed Diame and Shane Lowry were off-target. Both teams sustained the momentum in the second half. Al Ahli’s Ali Qaderi had a goal disallowed for offside in the 66th minute when he was on hand to send in a rebound off the left upright after Nabil shot first. Much to Al Ahli’s dismay, an unmarked Kom took Al Rayyan ahead by taking advantage off an assist by Yohan Boli.
When it looked like Al Rayyan would seal an important victory came the breakthrough deep into stoppage time. Al Ahli’s substitute Nasser Khalfan was fouled by Mohammed Alaaeldin and referee Abdulla Ali Athba pointed to the spot, a decision confirmed by the Video Assistant Referee. And Nabil converted from the spot. Earlier, Al Wakrah defeated Al Sailiya 3-1 at the Al Ahli Stadium to jump to fifth spot in the QSL standings. Mohamed Benyettou (49), Omar Ali (52) and Cristian Ceballos (75) scored for Al Wakrah, while Abdulqadir Ilyas (90+1) scored Al Sailiya's lone goal. The victory lifted Al Wakrah's points tally to 10 while Al Sailiya remained on eight. Both teams had dropped points in Week 6, Al Sailiya drawing goalless with Al Khor and Al Wakrah losing 0-1 to Qatar SC, so they played an open game. Ceballos started it all with a long range shot in the 13th minute. Omar was off-target in the 27th minute following a quick move and Benyettou headed over in the 44th minute. Al Wakrah’s Riadh Nasser too came close towards the end of first half. At the other end, Al Sailiya attackers Abdulqadir Ilyas, Tiago Bezerra and Mohanad Ali (Mimi) struggled to make inroads as they missed the speed and pace of Ahmed Hammoudan.
However, the teams took the breather goalless. The second half saw a flurry of attacks by Al Wakrah and they were rewarded with two quick goals. Ceballos found the target with an angular shot and Omar deflected in a shot by Benyettou. Al Wakrah was totally in control now and Ceballos added his second and the team’s third with an opportunistic goal. Ilyas reduced the margin for Al Sailiya in the first minute of stoppage time, but it was too little, too late. Later, at the Qatar SC Stadium, the hosts blanked Al Arabi 3-0. New recruit Youcef Belaili netted a brace (38 and 87) and Alejandro Jimena (90+5) added a third as Qatar SC took their points tally to nine, while Al Arabi stood on five points.
