Nam Tae-hee strikes in Al Duhail’s 1-0 win over Al Markhiya

Tribune News NetworkDohaNam Tae-hee’s goal helped Al Duhail beat Al Markhiya 1-0 to register their second successive win in the QNB Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday.This was the last year’s runners-up team’s second positive result of the season with their South Korean star Tae-hee getting the winner in the 54th minute of the match after both sides shared a goalless first half.Al Markhiya held sway for a long time after Al Duhail’s initial flurry at the start, and the promoted team even looked threatening, making several forays.The Red Knights, however, came back strong in the second session and combined with a fine move from the left. In the end, Youssef Farahat cut across a good cross and Nasser Saleh Yazidi set up the ball nicely for Tae Hee to make the perfect strike from the centre of the penalty box.A second successful strike, which was disallowed, had come in the 76th minute. Farahat had sent the ball into the goal but only after substitute Suhaib Gannan had taken it out of the hands of goalkeeper Loukay Ashour who had flung a full stretch. The referee said no goal after a VAR check.Markhiya could consider themselves a little unlucky as a powerful Hamroun Jugurtha hit struck the crossbar of the goal post in the 26th minute and flew away. Jugurtha was helped by a fine cross from Ayman Hussein.Towards the end too, Al Markhiya - who began the new season beating Sadd - made several attempts but a solid Al Duhail goalkeeper Shehab Ellethy stood guard. In the 73rd minute a Driss Fettouhi shot brushed the head of Duhail skipper Luiz Martin and flew in taking Shehab by surprise but the goalkeeper still made a great save.Ten minutes later, Shehab was again tested by Tilal Ali and Fettouhi on two occasions but he foiled the attempts. Earlier at the start, Al Duhail came close to scoring in the 16th minute when Michael Olunga’s kick off a volley went just wide off the left post."It was a good but hard fought win for us. Personally, I would have liked to be among the scorers but it didn’t happen today,” said Olunga after the match. On the injured Edmilson Junior, who watched the match from the stands with a cast in his ankle, Olunga said, "He’s our key player and obviously he’s missed on the field. I hope he recovers soon.”