Duhail sail past Gharafa, Arabi’s Ilyas strikes winner against Sailiya

Al Duhail’s Edmilson Junior (left) celebrates with teammate Michael Olunga after scoring against Al Gharafa 4-2 in the QNB Stars League at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium on Thursday. Photo by: Noushad Thekkayil

A dominant Al Duhail outplayed Al Gharafa 4-2 in the QNB Stars League yesterday. The victory at Al Gharafa Stadium took the Red Knights on top in standings with 32 points – one point ahead of reigning champions Al Sadd, who have three matches in hand. Al Sadd’s games against Al Wakrah, Qatar SC and Al Rayyan were postponed after their players tested positive for Covid-19. Yesterday, Edmilson Junior (14th minute), Michael Olunga (47th minute), Almoez Ali (56th minute) and Rabah Yahya (90+7) scored the goals for Al Duhail. Gabriel Perez (59th minute) and Ahmed al-Janehi (69th minute) were Al Gharafa’s scorers. Both teams fought strongly in the exciting encounter between the top-four teams and it was an open game right throughout. Al Duhail opened the scoring as Edmilson capitalised on a defensive mistake before Olunga doubled the lead. Al Duhail imposed themselves and added a third goal through Almoez, Luis Martin providing him with a cross. Al Gharafa did not lose heart and managed to strike back through Perez who beat goalkeeper Salah Zakaria. The goal spurred Al Gharafa on and they pressed hard, resulting in another goal. This time, al-Janehi was spot-on. Al Gharafa remained on 23 points from 14 matches after suffering their fifth defeat. At Qatar SC Stadium, Al Arabi defeated Al Sailiya 1-0, with Abdulqadir Ilyas scoring the winner. Al Arabi raised their score to 23 points with their seventh victory, while Al Sailiya stood on five points following their 11th defeat. After the teams tested the defence each other without any major chance falling to either side, Al Arabi went ahead through Ilyas following Hamed Ismail’s cross from the right. Ilyas beat goalkeeper Claude Amine with a header for the only goal in the match. Even as Al Sailiya tried to hit back, Al Arabi almost scored again in the 40th minute, but Ilyas shot was saved by the goalkeeper conceding a corner. Al Sailiya went into the second half with full force in search of a goal and intensified pressure on Al Arabi by attacking mostly from the sides. Al Arabi then came close in the 53rd minute, but the goalkeeper thwarted Abdulaziz al-Ansari with a timely intervention. Al Sailiya’s offensive attempts continued and, in the 74th minute, Driss Fettouhi missed an opportunity to score as his powerful shot that went wide of the post. Attempts continued by both teams and Al Arabi had the last laugh. Meanwhile, Al Wakrah thrashed Al Khor 4-1 after a brace from Gelson Dala, who scored in second and 23rd minute of the match at Al Gharafa Stadium. Mohamed Benyettou (14’) and Hazem Shehata (60’) were the other scorers. Ahmed Hassan (36’) scored the only goal for Al Khor.