Al Gharafa’s Fahid Satam Al Shammari heads the ball during his side’s match against Umm Salal in the Qatar Stars League at Al Arabi Stadium in Doha yesterday. RIGHT: Al Gharafa’s Magdi Siddiq (23) and Umm Salal’s forward Ismael Mardelli in acton. PICTURES BY: KAMMUTTY VP
DOHA: Eljaish continued their impressive form in the Qatar Stars League (QSL) by claiming a 1-0 win over ten-man Al Sadd yesterday at Qatar SC Stadium.
Al Sadd came into the match with a chance of increasing their lead at the top, following Lekhwiya’s 1-1 draw at Al Khor.
In another match yesterday, Umm Salal drew with Al Gharafa 2-2.
Eljaish, coached by Razvan Lucescu came into this match in confident mood, having beaten Al Gharafa 2-0 last week.
Al Sadd, who had Younes Mahmoud in their starting line-up following his transfer from QSL rivals Al Wakra started the match brightly.
Eljaish began to get into the match, winning tackles in the middle of the park.
The home side, who has had a strong season so far, enjoyed a good amount of ball possession with their midfielders busy on the pitch.
Raul had a glorious opportunity to give Al Sadd the lead, when he headed the ball past the post in the 40th minute.
Following a deep cross from a team-mate, the former Real Madrid striker positioned his body well to make enough contact on the ball. The face expression on the Spaniard showed that he thought he had scored.
Both sides went into the dressing rooms at 0-0. Eljaish had more possession than Al Sadd according to statistics.
After the break, both teams were eager to break the deadlock, thus creating chances at both sides of the pitch.
Mahmoud, who had made scoring a habit during his days at Al Wakra nearly gave Al Sadd the lead in the second half. Following a cross from the left hand side, Mahmoud’s attempt went past the post, following a terrific defending from Eljaish.
With the ball approaching the Iraqi striker, the Eljaish defenders made enough contact on the ball to distract Mahmoud’s vision and opportunity.
As the time was ticking, Al Sadd’s mission to grab all three points were made more difficult when Ibhrahim Majid was given his marching orders by the referee.
Five minutes from the final whistle, Eljaish scored the goal that delighted the home fans and the staff on the sidelines.
Abdulgader Al Yass converted an opportunity after his team-mate hit the cross bar and managed to bundle the ball past the Al Sadd defenders on the goal-line.
Elsewhere, defending champions Lekhwiya had to come from behind to snatch a 1-1 draw against Al Khor. Al Khor’s Bruno Suares showed a clever bit a of skill to unlash a low striker past Lekhwiya goalkeeper Baba Malik in the 40th minute.
The home side, who were playing at their stadium for the first time, equalised in the second half.
Dame Traore scored a long-range shot via a deflection in the 80th minute.
Lekhwiya are now 5 points behind Al Sadd.
THE PENINSULA
