Tribune News Network
Doha
Qatar SC and Umm Salal played out a 1-1 draw in Week 14 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday.
In the other ESL games of the day, Al Ahli beat Al Gharafa 2-1 while Muaither upstaged Al Markhiya 2-0.
The fast-paced Qatar SC-Umm Salal match, the first since the resumption of league after the AFC Asian Cup break, recorded two goals within the first seven minutes of play, with Umm Salal’s Lucas Joao finding the net in the fifth minute before Yousef Mohammed Ali equalised for The Kings in the seventh minute.
With the result, Qatar SC now have 13 points, while Umm Salal moved on to 16 points.
Joao’s goal came off a set piece by Oussama Tannane, with the Angolan international’s powerful header finding the left-hand corner of goalkeeper Sataa Al Abbasi’s net.
Undaunted by the early goal, Qatar SC went right into attack mode on resumption of play and their efforts were immediately rewarded when Yousef drilled in a powerful right-footed shot from inside the 18-yard box, which caught Umm Salal’s goalkeeper Landing Badji napping as his outstretched arm could do nothing to prevent the goal bound shot.
In the second half substitutions were made on both sides. For Umm Salal, Elyas Brimil came in to replace Abdallah Khaled Sheikh, while Khaled Mansour went in for Adel Al Sulimane. Goal scorer Joao was also substituted for Meshal Al Shammari in the 61st minute.
Qatar SC, on the other hand, threw in Congolese Ben Malango in place of captain Sebastian Soria and Jassim Ahmad was substituted for Ali Awad.
Despite the substitutions, there was no major change on the field as both sides seemed to lack the ‘magic’needed to further unlock each other’s defences.
Bruno Tabata, who joined the action in the 75th minute after replacing goal scorer Yousef, could have given Qatar SC the winner in the third minute of injury time, but his low, powerful shot went a few inches wide to the right of goalkeeper Badji.
Tabata’s attempt was the last major event of the night as the referee blew less than a minute later to end the interesting match.
Muaither upstage
Al Markhiya
Muaither beat Al Markhiya 2-0 at the Grand Hamad Stadium on Saturday.
While Tiago Leonco scored the opening goal for Muaither (16th minute), they benefited from an Own Goal from Ruben Semedo (55th minute). Al Markhiya also missed a penalty (Driss Fettouhi) to add to their own worries.
The much-needed win saw Muaither take their points tally to 9 points after 13 matches to rise above the relegation zone while Al Markhiya with 4 points from 11 games stay at the bottom.
Muaither made a bright start with a fine move down the left where Aymane El Hassouni beat defenders before making a solid cross to the centre where Brazilian Leonco stretched his left foot to connect and score with the ball beating a diving goalkeeper to his left.
Six minutes later, Al Markhiya got the chance to equalize as an advancing Yusupha Nije was brought down by Muaither goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodriguesdos and the referee after a VAR signaled for the spot.
Fettouhi stepped up and took the shot with his left foot but the kick swung towards the right hitting the post before going out as Rodriguesdos and his teammates celebrated.
From there on Al Markhiya pushed hard to make inroads in search of an equalizer but their efforts didn’t bore fruit.
In the second session, Muaither came back strong making some moves and in the 55th minute gained from a freak defence attempt to go up 2-0.
With a long lob from near the centre line making its way into the box, Muaither’s Jamal Hamed Mayor rushed in to make a kick but could not make a proper connection and the ball rolled up further and an Al Markhiya defender in haste to make the clearance kicked hard but the ball hit Semedo’s back right shoulder before going into the net, as the goalkeeper had already advanced.
The double blow left Al Markhiya’s hopes further dented and despite their valiant attempts could not find a way back into the match.
Al Ahli secure
vital victory over
Al Gharafa
Idrissa Doumbia’s last-gasp goal gave Al Ahli a vital 2-1 victory over 10-man Al Gharafa at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium on Saturday.
Ahmed Alaaeldin scored for Al Gharafa in the 45+5 minute before Julian Draxler equalised for Al Ahli in the 90+2 minute. Doumbia secured the winner in the 90+11 minute, with Oumar Sekou providing the assists for both of Al Ahli’s goals.
With the important victory, Al Ahli are now on 15 points, some safe distance from the relegation zone, while Al Gharafa remained on 27 points.
Al Gharafa were reduced to 10 men in the 22nd minute after Seydou Sano was given the marching orders for a dangerous push on a goal-bound Yazan Al Naimat. The foul necessitated Al Naimat’s replacement with Abdulrasheed Ibrahim.
While Al Ahli called for a penalty kick following the foul, the call was, however, rejected after a thorough VAR check. The subsequent free-kick by Draxler was, however, not converted.
Despite being a man down, Al Gharafa were the more attack-minded of the two sides, with Al Ahli goalkeeper Marwan Sherif rising to the occasion with several spectacular saves as the first half wore on.
Two minutes into injury time, Sekou had a wonderful opportunity to put Al Ahli ahead, but his point-blank shot was spectacularly parried out by goalkeeper Khalifa Ndiaye.
With the match seemingly heading to a scoreless first half, Alaaeldin opened the scoring for Al Gharafa two minutes later with a low glancing header after connecting perfectly with Amro Seraj’s cross.
As much as Al Ahli tried to restore parity, the difference remained the same as the teams headed for the dugout.
The tempo of the match remained unchanged on the start of second half, with Al Gharafa’s one-man disadvantage counting for nothing as they remained attack-minded while Al Ahli were forced to play defensive for most of the early part of the half.
The Brigadiers had a couple of chances as the match progressed, but they were unlucky to bury them, the most prominent of which was Draxler hitting the crossbar with a header in the 62nd minute.
Al Ahli began to get into the groove with time as they began to began their one-man advantage, with the four second-half substitutes making the difference.
After numerous attempts, Al Gharafa’s defence eventually caved in three minutes into added time, with Draxler equalising for his side three minutes into stoppage from an assist by Yansane.
With the game heading for an apparent stalemate, Al Ahli got their winner with almost the final kick of the match through Doumbia, who secured the vital goal and the maximum points in the 11th minute of stoppage time. The assist also came from Sekou.
