Tribune News Network
Doha
Al Shahania made a fighting comeback to beat Al Khor 2-1 in an eventful opening Week 13 clash of the Ooredoo Stars League at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium on Wednesday.
Al Khor, who had gained lead midway through the opening half, were hit with two red card dismissals as Ruben Semedo (34th minute) and Abdalaziz Al Hssia (79th) were sent off for rough and dangerous tackles and their team eventually ended up conceding two late goals.
Al Shahania also saw Francesco Antonucci being shown a second yellow card in the fifth minute of added seven minutes of stoppage time.
While Ibrahim Kala (28th minute) scored for Al Khor, Mohammad Abu Shanab (80th minute) and Pelle van Amersfoort (85th) struck solid headers for Al Shahania.
The win saw Al Shahania leapfrog from being 10th to 7th in the rankings, ahead of Al Wakrah and Umm Salal on goal difference, while Al Khor remained rooted at the bottom with 7 points.
The battle to steer clear of the relegation zone was hot from the very start of the clash as both sides pushed hard to gain an upper hand.
Al Khor came close to scoring in the 21st minute when Ayman Hussein flipped the ball over an advancing Al Khor goalkeeper Ahmed Basher Ali but it went on to hit the bottom left post and lurk dangerously near the goal before it was cleared by Yuosuf Hany Al Raeesi.
Five minutes later, Al Shahania’s Alhassan Koroma latched on to an Amersfoort diagonal cross from the left to connect but the kick was staved off by alert Al Khor goalkeeper Ali.
Al Khor retaliated immediately with a counter as Aitor Garcia Flores made a dash down the left and provided a rushing in Kalla a superb cross to score - with the ball beating Al Shahania goalkeeper Shehab Mamdouh Ellethy to his left.
In the 33rd minute, Al Khor however suffered a setback as Semedo pulled down Amersfoort about 20 yards from the ‘D’ and the referee after a VAR review gave him the marching orders.
Late second half brought more trouble for Al Khor as in the 73rd minute, Abdulaziz Hazaa Alhasia made a front-on rough tackle bringing down Al Shahania’s Mohammed Ibrahim and tempers flared. The referee flashed Alhasia with the red card and he had to leave the field.
Down to nine-men, Al Khor faced an uphill task and a free-kick for Al Shahania, about ten yards away to the right of the top of the box, brought a spectacular equalizer. Antonucci made a fine curling kick and substitute Abu Shanab leapt to make a fine header to the left for a top draw goal that left Al Khor’s dismissed player Semedo, sitting on the bench, almost in tears.
With not much time left to play, Al Shahania needed to hurry and Andreas Van Beek produced a telling lob from almost the same spot as that of the earlier free-kick, for Amersfoort to make a superb header from the left and produce a winner for his team.
The remaining twelve minutes, including stoppage time, saw both teams jostle and Antonucci picked up a second yellow but it came towards the fag end of the match and had little bearing on the result as Al Shahania players celebrated victory.
