Al Sadd players and officials celebrate after winning the Qatar Stars League (QSL) title after they beat Al Kharaitiyat in round 21 at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha yesterday. Al Sadd won 3-1 and now have an unassailable tally of 50 points. One one round remains in the ongoing campaign.
BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: Football giants Al Sadd yesterday crushed Al Kharaitiyat 3-1 to seal their Qatar Stars League (QSL) title win with one round still to play.
Playing on home soil, Al Sadd rallied from a goal deficit for their first title win in six attempts.
Coached by Hussein Amute, Al Sadd owed their 3-1 win to a double by Abdulkarim Hassan (55 and 70) and an own goal by Al Kharaitiyat’s Turki Aman (53rd).
For the losers, the only goal was scored by Alain Dioko in the 36th minute.
Al Sadd, champions for a record 13th time, now have an assailable tally of 50 points with just one inconsequential round to go.
Defending champions Lekhwiya have a tally of 45 points while third-placed Eljaish have 40.
It was Al Sadd’s first major football triumph since their spectacular title win in the AFC Champions League in November 2011.
Al Sadd struggled at the start of the match as Al Kharaitiyat put pressure through well coordinated moves up front.
In the 4th minute. Anranik Timothian of Al Kharaitiyat went long range with a bullet around 40 meters from the Al Sadd goalline.
The ball swerved away without causing damage but Al Kharaitiyat started showing threatening intent.
Two minutes later, Al Kharaitiyat defender Domingos Nascimneto blocked what looked like a threatening move from Al Sadd’s Raul inside the visitor’s box.
A couple of minutes later, Nabeel Anwar of Al Kharaitiyat weaved his way past three Al Sadd defenders and took aim at the goal.
The ball swung in the air and kissed the crossbar before going away as Al Sadd averted the danger.
With tension rising among the players, Al Kharaitiyat’s Timothian was repeatedly targeted by Al Sadd players.
The Armenian-Iranian - a feisty character at the best of times - was once brought down by Al Sadd’s Hassan Al Haydos with a crippling hit on his shin.
Ten minutes from time, Al Sadd striker Khalfan Ibrahim eased past a couple of Al Kharaitiyat defenders before slipping a back-heel pass to Nadir Belhadj.
The Algerian fired a bullet from the edge of the box but the ball was punched away by Al Kharaitiyat goalkeeper Khalifa Ndiaye.
A minute later, Al Kharaitiyat stunned the Al Sadd faithfuls with a goalkeeper’s gaffe adding to the confusion for the home fans.
Dioko picked up a header from Kebe just outside the Al Sadd box. The tall striker charged into Al Sadd box with two defenders in tow but Dioko fired a low-range shot that went through the hands of the home team goalkeeper Saad Abdulla to leave the home fans shocked at the clumsy mistake.
A couple of minutes later, Al Sadd forward Ibrahim produced a snap-header which was expertly saved by Al Kharaitiyat goalkeeper Ndiaye. A minute into the second half, Al Kharaitiyat goalkeeper brought down Al Sadd striker Yousef Ahmed with a rash clip on the knee but the referee ignored pleas for a penalty from Raul and the home fans.
Al Sadd, however, managed to bring delight in the home camp with the equaliser in the 53rd minute.
Belhadj curled in a long-range shot from close to the corner-kick flag. Raul and Ali jumped together for the deflection but Al Kharaitiyat’s Aman sent the ball into his own net.
A minute later, Hassan produced a deft header - off an Ibrahim free-kick - to send Al Sadd into a 2-1 lead.
Hassan added one more in the 70th minute to seal a spectacular night for the home team.
THE PENINSULA
