(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The Peninsula
Doha: Ismaeel Mohammad and Michael Olunga were on target as goals in either halves sealed a 2-0 victory for QNB Stars League title holders Al Duhail against Al Rayyan at Al Duhail Stadium yesterday.
It was Al Duhail's 10th win of the season as they continued to chase title favourites Al Sadd - who are at the top of the points table with a tally of 44 - 13 points ahead of the reigning champions.
On the other hand, yesterday's loss cost Al Rayyan their place among the top four as they stood at 25 points while Qatar SC replaced the Lions after their win over Umm Salal yesterday. Al Rayyan slipped to the fifth place.
Yesterday, Mohammad gave the hosts the lead in the 37th minute. Dudu fed a perfect cross from just outside the penalty area while Mohammad completed the task by sending the ball to the net to give Sabri Lamouchi's side the lead.
New recruit and substitute Olunga sealed the win in the 73rd minute after receiving a pass from Ahmed Yasser to give his team the 10th win in the QSL this season.
Following the victory, Al Duhail's Qatari defender Sultan Al Brake yesterday hailed the efforts of his team-mates and said that the win was achieved 'after everyone played their part well'.
"Everyone was at the top of their focus inside the stadium and we entered the match with the hope of obtaining full points to maintain our second place in the standings. We were able to provide the performance expected by us," Al Brake said yesterday. "We gained valuable experience from the Club World Cup and benefited from the matches we went through. It was a good experiences for us. Today we applied the methods that the coach set for us, and thank God we succeeded in achieving victory," Al Brake said.
Earlier, at the same venue, Youcef Belaili converted a penalty right at the death as Qatar SC beat 10-man Umm Salal 1-0 to jump into top four of the standings.
Belaili chose to drive the penalty to the right of Umm Salal keeper Samy Habib deep into stoppage time (90+11) as Qatar SC picked up three points after a feisty contest. Qatar SC now have a tally of 27 points, while Umm Salal stood on 15 points.
Qatar SC started in an aggressive fashion when in the sixth minute Anthony Okpotu fired a shot at the Umm Salal goal from the edge of the box, but the ball was blocked by Roozbeh Mohammed.
Three minutes later, feared striker Belaili fired one from an acute angle, but his shot was blocked by Umm Salal's Ahmed Hammoudan.
Rabeh Yahia of Umm Salal managed a spectacular solo effort in the 23rd minute, but his powerful shot sailed above the Qatar SC crossbar.
In the 88th minute, Bashar Resan got a chance to tap the ball into the net from a few metres, but his deflection flew up above the Umm Salal crossbar.
In the dying seconds of injury time, Omar Al Emadi flicked one from close range following a goalmouth melee, but Umm Salal's Ibrahim Elsadig headed the ball to safety.
But there was further drama in the match when Roozbeh elbowed Qatar SC's Mohammed Salem as both players jumped to connect a loopy cross inside the Umm Salal box. Referee Yousef Al Sharshani used VAR to award a penalty to Qatar SC and Belaili easily converted it.
In the third match of the day, Al Arabi edged Al Wakrah 1-0 at Al Arabi Stadium.
Mehrdad Mohammdi scored the winner by converting a penalty in the 77th minute as Al Arabi clinched their sixth victory of the 2020-21 season.
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