Al Arabi secure top-four finish, Al Khor relegated despite win

Tribune News Network DOHA Al Arabi roared with two second half goals against Umm Salal for a 2-0 win which ensured a dream fourth finish for the side in t...

Tribune News NetworkDOHA Al Arabi roared with two second half goals against Umm Salal for a 2-0 win which ensured a dream fourth finish for the side in the QNB Stars League at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium on Thursday. The Dream Team finished their season on 36 points as Al Gharafa were confined to 30 points after a 3-2 loss to Al Sailiya (16 points), who avoided relegation, and will face Second Division League runner-up Al Kharaitiyat in the QSL play-off. Al Khor despite beating Qatar SC 1-0 in their last match yesterday suffered relegation, on the basis of goal-difference (-25 as compared to Al Sailiya’s -19) as they also finished the season with 16 points. Aaron Boupendza (59th minute) and Youssef Msakni (61) struck goals for Al Arabi, who finished an impressive season under coach Younes Ali with 11 victories. Al Arabi’s victory ruled Al Gharafa (30 points) out of contention for the fourth finish, but Al Sailiya gained much by defeating The Cheetahs as they salvaged a chance to retain their QSL spot. Mohammed Salah (16th), Mohammed Muddather (24’) and Driss Fettouhi (76’) scored goals for Al Sailiya, while Cheick Diabate (2’) and Ahmed Alaaeldin (45+1) scored for Al Gharafa. Meanwhile, Al Khor’s win against Qatar SC at their home turf came after a stoppage time goal (90+2) by Pierre-Michel Lasogga. Qatar SC finished their season with 23 points. Earlier, Al Duhail and Al Ahli played out a goalless draw in their last round match at the Al Gharafa Stadium. Al Duhail and Al Ahli finished their campaign with 47 and 25 points respectively.Al Duhail had beaten Al Ahli 6-0 in the first leg of 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League.Both teams relied on a large number of substitutes, especially Al Duhail, who rested a number of their main players ahead of their Amir Cup semi-final against Al Sadd.Al Duhail had already made sure of the runners-up position in the 2021-2022 QNB Stars League behind already-crowned champions Al Sadd. Al Wakrah who will end their season with a match against the Wolves on Thursday are ensured of a third place.Results: Al Arabi beat Umm Salal 2-0; Al Duhail draw with Al Ahli 0-0; Al Khor beat Qatar SC 1-0; Al Sailiya beat Al Gharafa 3-2. Friday’s FixturescTypeface:> Al Rayyan vs Al Shamal (5pm); Al Sadd vs Al Wakrah (7:10pm).Al Markhiya win promotionAl Markhiya on Wednesday managed to beat Al Shahaniya 3-0 at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium in the penultimate round of the Second Division League.The goals for Al Markhiya were scored by Saleh Muhammad Al Yahri and Jamil Al Yahmadi in the 24th and 88th minutes respectively.Thanks to a strike by Nour Rahman, Al Shahaniya scored the goal in the 48th minute.Al Markhiya raised its tally to 33 points while Al Shahaniya’s balance froze at 21 points.Al Markhiya also got advantage of Al Kharaitiyat’s stumble in a 1-1 draw against Lusail.“We’ve had faith through the season. We can look back and see when we scored late goals and had that always go for the goal mentality. That helped us immensely, and it’s testimony to the players and staff that everyone’s worked well together,” said coach Abdullah Mubarak.“After a slow start to the season, we never panicked. We stuck at our game and knew we were performing well. Every side has results that aren’t going to go their way, but then we started winning games regularly, which propelled us to the league’s top.Second-placed Al-Kharaitiyat raised their tally to 28 points and will play the deciding match against the penultimate holder of the QNB Stars League.