Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Tabata (left) is challenged by a Al Sailiya player during the QNB Stars League match in Doha yesterday.
Doha: Al Rayyan had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Al Sailiya in a hotly-contested QNB Stars League encounter in Week 17 of the QNB Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium yesterdayday.
In the other matches, hosts Al Gharafa defeated Al Kharaitiyat 2-0 while Qatar SC secured all three points following an impressive 1-0 win away to Al Ahli.
Goals for Al Rayyan were scored by Sebastia Soria in the 59th minute and Abderrazzaq Hamdallah in the 67th. Al Sailiya’s goals came in the fifth minute through Dragos Grigore and Mohamed Al Marri in the 79th.
The game started in rapid fashion as Al Sailiya’s Mohamad Rajeb found himself clean through on goal, but was impeded by Hossam El Said on the edge of the area. Grigore stepped up to bend his perfectly-executed free-kick over the wall and into the far corner for an early lead.
With intense pressure throughout the first half, Al Rayyan looked like they had equalised when Mohammed Al Alawi drove down the left, but his shot into the corner was expertly kept out by Hassan Dicko in the opposition goal.
The intensity grew in the second half and it was not long before The Lions were back on level terms. The energetic Abdulrahman Al Harazi whipped in a cross from the right which was met by Soria who flicked it in with a back heel.
Al Harazi was replaced immediately after by Hamdallah who made an instant impression. He was on hand to drive home a cross from Soria and put the home side into the ascendancy.
With the game drawing to a close, Al Sailiya caught the home-side off guard to equalise. A neat interchange on the right saw Nadir Belhadj find Al Marri who guided home a wonderful diving header.
Right at the death, Al Rayyan had the chance to grab the winner when they won a penalty, but Tabata’s shot hit the post and the teams played out a draw.
Elsewhere, Othman Al Yahri (19th minute) and substitute Mehdi Taremi (90+3) scored the goals as Al Gharafa moved to 23 points, while Al Kharaitiyat stayed on 13.
Al Gharafa dominated the proceedings right from the start and promptly went ahead through Othman, with Ahmed Alaaeldin setting the stage for the goal.
Othman was in the thick of the action and he sent a long-range shot over the bar.
The trend was the same in the second half and Al Gharafa’s Wesley Sneijder had a shot saved by rival goalkeeper Ahmed Sofyan. Al Gharafa controlled the midfield play and Sneijder and Iranian striker Taremi made many a move into the opposition territory.
After Moroccan striker Rachid Tiberkanine, back from a one-match layoff, shot straight to Al Gharafa goalkeeper Yousuf Hassan after one hour, The Thunders’ best chance to equalise came late, but Josue Mohy headed against the horizontal. Al Gharafa almost doubled the lead off the counter-attack only to see Alaaeldin shoot straight to Sofyan in a one-on-one situation. Even as Al Kharaitiyat tried hard for an equaliser, an unmarked Taremi struck at the death to help Al Gharafa earn three crucial points.
In the other match, the only goal of the game came from Qatar SC’s Syrian striker Osama Omari, signed in the January transfer window, in the 57th minute.
