Review: Al Rayyan are real deal at Qatar Stars League


(MENAFN- The Peninsula)Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Barbosa (centre) attempts to break through Mesaimeer defence during their Qatar Stars League (QSL) match at Al Gharafa Stadium on Friday.

Doha: After four Rounds of the Qatar Stars League (QSL) action Al Rayyan are showing that they might actually be able to win something this season and that although they won promotion with Mesaimeer the two teams this season are miles apart.

This is most certainly due to a massive spending spree that the Lions unleased on the transfer market during the summer break.

The Lions are one of only three teams in the league who have still not drawn or lost a single match the other two being Lekhwiya and Al Gharafa.

Msakni is on fire for the Red Knights

Last season the Tunisian attacking midfielder Yousef Msakni found that he was out of favour with Laudrup and injuries early on last season meant that he wasn’t a regular. However Msakni seems to have a new lease of life under Belmadi the new Head Coach has played the attacking midfielder right from the off this season. Msakni has already scored 5 goals in just three games. (Lekhwiya and Gharafa have played one game less than the rest of the league). Other honourable mentions include Muriqui for Al Sadd who has scored 5 goals in 4 games and new Jaish signing Hamdallah with four goals. However a team that really can’t afford to lose their front man is Umm Salal’s Yannick Sagbo the Ivorian has had a big impact for his team and in some matches this season he has single-handedly won many points for his team.

Al Gharafa: Strong Contenders

Al Gharafa came away from their match against Al Arabi with all three points in what was billed as a show-down between two teams of similar ability. In the end Gharafa had that extra bit of quality and a single goal was all it took for the Cheetahs to show that they will be one of the main contenders for the league this season.

Qatar SC continue to struggle

The Kings have had a nightmare start to the season which has seen them slide all the way to the relegation zone. The contrast couldn’t be more obvious from last season when they were battling for a top three finish.

It looks like the other teams are certainly taking the Kings more seriously this term and perhaps that is why the men in yellow and black have found it harder this season.

In Round 4 it looked as if Qatar SC had finally remembered how to win but two late goals by Salal’s Sagbo and Al Yahri was yet another bitter pill to swallow for the Kings.

Head Coach Radhi Shenaishil is running out of time he must get his defence working as a unit and his two front men need to start scoring more regularly to secure their future in the league.

Wakrah get first win

Al Wakrah’s Head Coach José Mauricio will be over the moon with his side’s performance and win against Al Khor many had already written off his side. However the Waves did well as their win came away at the Al Khor stadium with a single goal from the Portuguese midfielder Ruben Amorim in the first half.

Al Khor did come back strong in the second half but this time Wakrah were able to keep things tight and psychologically it was a big win for the visitors.

THE PENINSULA


The Peninsula

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