+ A
A -
tribune news network
doha
Leaders Al Duhail were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Sailiya in the last match of the first phase of the QNB Stars League at Al Ahli stadium on Thursday.
The league champions played with a man down for over an hour after goalkeeper Khalifa Ndiaye was given the marching orders by Slovenian referee Damir Skomina for handling the ball with his hand outside his box as Sailiya's Valentin Lazar was set to latch on to a loose ball. Abdullah al Ahrak replaced Khalifa.
That changed the texture of the game as the dominating Duhail made cautious approach to the advantage of their opponents who became confident and daring. There was no goal in the first half as the teams went into the break knowing they could have fared better especially for Sailiya.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Youssef El Arabi scored the opener for Duhail in the 50th minute via a penalty kick. Al Sailiya got back to level terms courtesy Wagner Ribeiro's calm finish inside the box.
Mohammed Muddather did all the hard work after dispossessing an opponent in the middle of the field and ran into the heart of the Duhail defence before releasing the ball for the Brazilian who slammed it home for his ninth goal of the season.
Duhail dominating the game from the inception but misses and some good saves kept the scoreline even.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Al Duhail opened the scoring through El Arabi. Al Sailiya did well to equalise through Ribeiro when the tireless Brazilian eased past a host of rival defenders before calmly slotting the ball past Al Bakri.
Djamel Belmadi said after the match that the draw was not in the plan but it was a good result afterall.
"Al Sailiya is a good team but our team played for an hour without a player, but in the end this is a good result and it was a good performance from Al Sailiya.
"We wasted many opportunities but I think the expulsion affected us," Belmadi added.
Ahli continued from where they left off as they blanked Al Rayyan 2-0 on Thursday. A fired-up Al Ahli, who had beaten Al Sailiya last week, outplayed Al Rayyan and took a two-goal cushion into the half-time break. Mohammed Muntari scored in the 19th minute and Ali Ghaderi made it 2-0 in the 39th minute.
Michael Laudrup's men on 25 points missed a chance to close the gap on leaders Duhail who lead the Lions with four points.
Al Sadd posted a commanding 4-0 win over Al Kharaitiyat to move up to two points adrift of leaders Duhail on 29 points. The win was the Wolves ninth victory from eleven game.
Pedro Miguel (40th minute), Hassan Al Haydous (52nd-min penalty and 81st) and Jugurtha Hamroun (77th) scored the goals.
Pedro opened the floodgates, heading home a free-kick taken by Xavi Hernandez. The defender rose above his marker Abdrahman Abdallah and connected the ball.
Al Sadd doubled the lead as Al Haydous converted a penalty awarded after an opponent Soud Nasser handled the ball following a Musab Kedar shot.
Hamroun then struck powerfully into the top of Al Kharaitiyat net before Al Haydous rounded off the tally.
