Goal-hungry Al Rayyan eye wins in title chase

Former champions Al Rayyan will be eyeing wins in the coming matches, coach Michael Laudrup has warned after watching his side demolish Al Arabi 4-2 on Sunday.
The victory on Sunday has helped Al Rayyan hold on to the third spot on goal difference though Laudrup’s boys are just a point behind leaders Al Duhail in the title chase.
Al Sadd, also with 21 points like Al Rayyan, are in second place.
“Al Rayyan now has more confidence as we have won 11 of the 12 games we have played in the league and the QSL Cup. We look forward to more wins in the coming matches,” Laudrup said following his team’s convincing win over Al Arabi.
Laudrup, the popular Dane, said he was expecting a tough fight from Al Arabi who caved in after conceding two goals in the first half.
“I expected a tough match because it is a derby match and Al Arabi were playing under a new coach. We do not know what to expect from them. But I cannot complain. I am happy and satisfied with Al Rayyan’s superiority in the (round 8) match,” the 52-year-old added.
“We are in third spot but that is no problem for us. I say that because Al Rayyan is playing attacking football which is good,” Laudrup said.
“We deserved to win because we scored three goals in the first hour. We were not at all lenient in any way and we continued in that fashion in the second half also. Overall I am very pleased with our performance,” Laudrup said.
When asked why he had benched veteran striker Sebastian Soria and high-scoring forward Abderrazzaq, Laudrup said: “The reason for replacing Sebastien and Hamdallah in the second half is due to the fact that one of them received a yellow car and I wanted to prevent him from missing the next match against Al Gharafa.”
Laudrup added. “So I preferred to take them out of the field.”
The Dane applauded striker Rodrigo Tabata on reaching the 100-goal milestone with Al Rayyan’s second goal on Sunday.
“Reaching 100 goals is a big achievement for any player and this is great to see in world football,” the Al Rayyan coach said.
Meanwhile Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira said he was satisfied after the Doha giants crushed Umm Salal 4-1 despite conceding an early goal.
“Just as I predicted yesterday, the match was very difficult. Umm Salal are a physically strong side and show great attacking fervour. I didn’t like our performance in the first 20 minutes but after that, there was a great improvement. The first half result was fair considering the performance of the two teams,” Ferreira said.
“In the second half, we did good work that we failed to do in the first half. We controlled the possession completely and after the second goal, we were able to dominate further and score the third and fourth goals,” he added.
“We got a good win. The number of goals doesn’t matter. What is important is the three points. I am happy that we scored four goals as it hasn’t happened before. ” Ferreira said.
Ferreira informed that his players are exhausted following a string of international commitments prior to Sunday’s clash.
“We should know that there are exhausted players who are not physically fit after playing for the national teams recently. I hope the team is at full strength after the end of the next break and before the beginning of the second phase,” Ferreira said.