DOHA: Abdulkader Ilyas scored the all-important goal in the 22nd minute as Umm Salal defeated Al Arabi in a keenly-contested match in the eighth round of the Qatar Stars League.

Tuncay Sanli did the spade work for the goal when he picked out Ilyas with a cross from the right, which the Qatar international emphatically headed in.

Elsewhere, Gharafa breezed past Al Shahaniya. Argentinian forward Lisandro Lopez opened Gharafa’s account in the 13th minute while Brazilian winger Nene made it 2-0 just past the half-hour mark.

Moayad Hassan ended the game as a contest by netting the third two minutes after resumption.

Al Gharafa leapt to fourth position in the Qatar Stars League with a 3-0 rout of Al Shahaniya in a one-sided match yesterday.

Al Gharafa struck through Argentinan striker Lisandro Lopez in the 13th minute and never looked back.

Brazlian Nene and Qatar’s Moayed Hassan put the issue beyond doubt with goals in the 31st and 45th minute respectively to complete the rout although Al Shahaniya came up with a much improved show in the second session during which they didn’t concede any goal.

Yesterday’ loss was Al Shahaniya’s fifth in seven matches, the minnows languishing in 13th position in the 14-team league.