(MENAFN- Gulf Times)
QNB Stars League leaders Al Arabi continued their impressive start to the season with a 5-1 thrashing of Al Sailiya, while reigning champions Al Sadd suffered their third loss of the season after going down to Al Shamal 1-2 yesterday.
Arabi, who had lost to Al Duhail last week, bounced back in style against Sailiya at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium yesterday. Brazilian midfielder Rafinha, who joined Arabi on Saturday, came on in the 72 minute but the match was well over by then with the 'Dream Team' already 4-1 ahead.
Arabi fired on all cylinders after an even first half battle which had ended 1-1. The goals for Al Arabi came from Abdulaziz al-Ansari (17th minute), and two each from Omar al-Somah (49'and 61') and from Youssef Msakni (51' and 82'). The lone successful strike for Al Sailiya was from Carlos Strandberg in the 8th minute.
Arabi's cracking win, fifth in the league so far, took their points tally to a whopping 15 points wherein they have slammed in 12 goals against conceding only five. Al Sailiya with three points remain 11th on the table.
While Sailiya began in right earnest, the determination of the strong Arabi side was displayed a big way. Sailiya held back the charging Arabi players in the first half until al-Somah latched on to a good chance to get the equaliser.
Arabi returned after the break only to express themselves more freely and to make their intentions known to which their rivals had few answers.
Earlier, Sadd's coach lamented his team's performance after losing to Shamal at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. 'We were good in the first half and also scored a goal. But we did not play with the right spirit to win the match,” the Spaniard said.
Sadd took the lead through Andre Ayew in the seventh minute, before Amjad Atwan scored the equalising goal for Shamal in the 20th minute from a penalty kick. Fourteen minutes later Ali Olwan added the second goal for Shamal, which turned out to be their winner.
Sadd, who are missing their key Qatar players due to their involvement in training camp in Europe, are seventh with as many points. Shamal rose to fifth after their third win of the season.
Shamal were eager to find their winning ways after their last two defeats (to Al Arabi and Qatar SC) and they did just that. Sadd took the lead through Ayew after Guillerme Torres' pass was controlled by Baghdad Bounedjah before he passed it to an unmarked Ayew to score.
Atwan helped Shamal draw parity when the referee awarded a penalty for Sadd's Jung Woo-Young's foul on Alwan and the latter found the target from the spot. Shamal then showed supremacy and got more than one chance through Yacine Bammou and Alwan, who both failed to find the mark. Alwan then got into the scoring act off a cross from the right by Bammou.
Sadd almost scored an equaliser in the 67th minute, but Guillerme's powerful shot from the left hit the left post.
Sadd managed to score a goal towards the end, but it was cancelled via VAR decision.
In another match yesterday, Al Gharafa were held to a 2-2 draw by Umm Salal at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium. Jonathan Kodjia was the hero for Umm Salal, having opened the scoring for them in the 26th minute and also scored the equaliser in the 79th minute. Both were penalties. For Gharafa, Ahmed al-Ganehi scored in the first half stoppage time, while Algerian Yousef Brahimi bagged a goal in the 66 the minute.
Buoyed Duhail take on Qatar SC today
Meanwhile, Al Duhail will host Qatar SC at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium today. The Red Knights defeated Al Arabi 3-0 in their previous match to jump to third on the table and will be looking to continue the momentum with a win against Qatar SC, who also bagged full points in their last game after defeating Al Shamal. Qatar SC have earned seven points from their first five matches. Duhail coach Hernan Crespo was pleased with his team's performance in the last match.“Our defensive work was very good against Arabi while the other players also did the job expected of them. The matches aren't easy and we need to keep performing well,” he said.
In an eagerly-awaited match today, Al Wakrah and Al Ahli will square off at the Grand Hamad Stadium.
Al Wakrah are second with 11 points while Al Ahli are fourth with eight points. The Blue Waves were held to a goalless draw by Al Markhiya while Al Ahli played out an exciting 3-3 draw against Al Gharafa last week.
In today's first match, Al Rayyan will be hoping to clinch their first win of the season when they meet Al Markhiya at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium. Rayyan are at the bottom of the table with one point while Markhiya occupy the ninth spot with five.
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