Action from the QNB Stars League match between Al Sailiya and Al Khor yesterday.
Doha: Al Sailiya and Al Gharafa notched up contrasting wins in yesterday’s QNB Stars League matches at the Khalifa International Stadium.
In the Week 4 matches, Al Sailiya picked up their third win when they beat Al Khor 2-1 while Al Gharafa trounced Al Ahli 4-0
Abdulqadir Ilyas yet again came to Al Sailiya’s rescue by netting a brace (sixth and 86th minutes).
Brazilian forward Diogo Farias equalised for Al Khor in the 11th minute.
The striker had struck a brace in Al Sailiya’s 2-1 opening-week victory over Umm Salal. The winning goal of that match had come with literally the last kick of the game.
This time too, Ilyas netted the winner when the match meandered to a 1-1 draw. He took his tally to four goals.
Al Sailiya’s other victory was against Qatar SC, by a 2-0 margin, while they lost to Al Gharafa 1-2.
Al Sailiya dominated the proceedings. After Nadir Belhadj had his shot go narrowly wide, Abdulqadir put The Peregrines ahead by slotting home from an unmarked position.
Al Khor were quick to draw parity as Diogo capitalised on a mispass before finding the target past an advancing goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater.
After the early goals, both teams somewhat slowed down even though Al Sailiya kept dominating the ball.
When Moroccan striker Rachid Tiberkanine and Nadir Belhadj were off-colour, Al Khor launched some moves past the hour mark. One such initiative saw Ahmed Yasin’s shot being saved by Al Sailiya goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater.
After four matches, Al Khor are still on one point they earned from their draw with Al Shahania.
Elsewhere, Wesley Sneijder (12th-minute penalty), Mehdi Taremi (58th), Jasem Mohammed (own goal, 63rd) and Vladimir Weiss (70th) scored the goals in Al Gharafa’s big win over Al Ahli..
Jasem had a bad day as he tripped Sneijder that resulted in the penalty.
The red card to striker Meshaal Abdulla in the 74th minute compounded the woes of Al Ahli, who matched Al Gharafa in the first half by equally sharing ball possession, before fading out in the second session.
Meshaal was penalised by referee Nayef Al Kadiri for a lunging foul on Sneijder.
Al Gharafa had most of the chances in the opening half. Taremi twice came close only to see his shots go wide of the target, while Abdulaziz Hatem shot over the bar.
In between, Sneijder converted from the spot after he was fouled by Jasem.
Weiss continued his good form since the start of this season. The Slovakian seems to be making up for missing most of last season with an injury.
The face-off of Sneijder and fellow Dutchman Nigel de Jong was the sub-plot of the match. Both players, former Ajax Amsterdam and Netherlands team-mates, pulled the midfield together.
Sneijder joined Al Gharafa halfway through last season, whereas Nigel was recruited by Al Ahli at the start of this season.
Al Gharafa presented a good picture of themselves after half-time, forcing Nigel to retreat to the help of defenders at times.
Sneijder came close to scoring a second time, but he clipped the horizontal with a chip shot.
Al Ahli goalkeeper Yazan Naim brought up a good save off a Sneijder long-ranger towards the end, but the damage had already been done.
Al Gharafa’s second victory took their points tally to seven. Their other win was against Al Sailiya (2-1). The Cheetahs had lost 1-3 to Qatar SC, while they held QNB Stars League leaders Al Sadd to a 1-1 draw.
Al Ahli remained on three points from their victory over Qatar SC in Week 2. The Brigadiers had lost to Al Rayyan and Umm Salal.
In today’s matches, Al Rayyan take on Al Kharaitiyat and Al Arabi face Umm Salal.
Meanwhile, Al Kharaitiyat’s new coach Aziz Al Amri from Morocco will be looking for a turn around when his team take on Al Rayyan.
“We’ve suffered three consecutive defeats and our problem is psychological. One victory can change the situation. As of now, I’m new (he replaced Nassif Al Bayawi) and my focus is on arresting the losing streak.
