Action during the QNB Stars League match between Al Sadd and Qatar SC at the Qatar SC Stadium on Saturday.
DOHA: QNB Stars League (QSL) giants Al Sadd and Al Rayyan continued to chase leaders Al Duhail as another exciting week of action came to a close on Saturday.
At the end of Week 15, Al Duhail are cruising at the top with 39 points following their 12th win of the season on Friday. The Red Knights faced no problems in outplaying Al Ahli 4-0, with Youssef Msakni scoring three goals and assisting for the other netted by Youssef El Arabi.
El Arabi took his tally to 20 goals on top of the scoring chart and is well poised to bag the coveted award for the second successive season.
It was the first round of action after the close of January transfer window, where many clubs reinforced their squads ahead of the second and tough phase of the season.
There was only one change in the standings as Qatar SC slipped from ninth to 10th and Al Arabi moved up by one position.
Despite facing an early scare, Al Sadd fought back to overcome Qatar SC 3-1 in the final match of the week as Xavi Hernandez’s men recorded their 12th win of the season.
The Barcelona legend, Xavi, Hassan Ahmed and Hamed Ismail scored for The Wolves as they lead the chasing pack behind Al Duhail with 37 points.
Al Rayyan who are trailing by just two points behind Al Sadd, beat Al Markhiya 3-1, with Sebastian Soria, Abderrazaq Hamdallah and Rodrigo Tabata finding the mark.
Al Markhiya’s goal came through Mohamed Salah. The Oryxes stayed rooted to the bottom on eight points.
Al Sailiya and Umm Salal, the fourth and fifth-placed sides, both dropped points.
Al Ahli, who did well in holding Umm Salal and Al Khor in the previous rounds, could not find their footing against a marauding Al Duhail.
Al Sailiya again dropped points, this time being held 2-2 by Al Kharaitiyat who punched way above their weight under new coach Yasser Sebaie, who replaced Tunisian Ahmad Al Ajlani following their Week 14 defeat at the hands of Al Khor.
Moroccan striker Rachid Tiberkanine scored Al Kharaitiyat’s both goals, while that of Al Sailiya came from Wagner Ribeiro and Majdi Siddiq. The Peregrines would be ruing the two points they lost as they bid to finish the competition among the top four, while The Thunders received a morale booster when their confidence was at a low ebb, being in the 11th position and took their points to 10.
Al Arabi did well in drawing goalless with fifth-placed Umm Salal, taking their points to 12 and 21 respectively. The hard-earned point helped The Dream Team move to ninth from 10th in the table.
Al Gharafa prevailed over Al Khor 2-1 to close the gap with Umm Salal from three points to one. Wesley Sneijder and Muad Hassan found the target for The Cheetahs, who are on 20 points. Al Khor stayed on 14.
The week witnessed 19 goals being scored compared to 21 in the previous round.
