DOHA: Title hopefuls Al Arabi lost their second game of the season when
Al Ahli handed them a 2-1 defeat at the Al Arabi Stadium on Friday.
Congolese striker Firmin Mubele put Ahli ahead in the 24th minute while
Meshaal Abdullah made it 2-0 in the 41st. Fred Dabanka presented Arabi
with some consolation when he scored an own goal in injury time.
In another game, Al Sadd defeated Muaither 4-2 to raise their points tally
to 10, while Umm Salal and Al Sailiya played out a goalless draw.
In the biggest game of the week, QSL champions Al Rayyan scored deep
in second half stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw against title rivals El Jaish
in a pulsating QSL tie on Saturday evening. El Jaish took a first half lead
through captain Seidou Keita and dominated the tie throughout. Despite
being second best for most of the match, Al Rayyan grabbed an equalizer
on the 93rd minute with a powerful shot from Spanish striker Sergio Garcia.
Sabri Lamouchi’s side looked composed on the ball and carved out their
second chance of the evening fifteen minutes on the clock a smart pass
from Romarino put through Sardor Rashidov through on goal. Bearing
down on goal the Uzbekistan international unleased a shot from a tight
angle when he realistically should have crossed for his team-mates.
El Jaish finally made their dominance count on the 20
th minute with the
opening goal of the match. A cross from right back Murad Naji was missed
by Romainho, the ball fell to midfielder Mohammed Al Yazeedi who had
the peace of mind to knock the ball back to Seidou Keita. El Jaish’s captain
unleashed a powerful drilled shot which has a slight deflection off Musa
Haroon and founds it way into the back of the net.
Michael Laudrup’s side found an equalizer in spectacular circumstances
deep into second half stoppage time. The lively Al Harazi made a strong
run on the right hand side, and layed the ball off to Spanish striker Sergio
Garcia. Rayyan’s number nine unleashed a powerful shot into the top left
hand corner to give his side a share of the points.
