Tribune News Network
Doha
Defending champions Al Sadd defeated Al Arabi 2-0 in the Week 11 encounter of QNB Stars League season 2022-23 at the Grand Hamad Stadium on Monday.
In other matches of the day, Al Duhail beat Umm Salal 2-0 to take the top spot in the standings while Al Ahli and Al Markhiya were locked in a 2-2 draw.
Strengthened by the return of some of their top stars following the recent Arabian Gulf Cup 25, Al Sadd registered their second win in a row.
The Wolves rode on the goals from Santi Cazorla - in the 66th minute off a penalty, and from captain Hassan Al Haydos in the 72nd minute.
The result took Al Sadd into the top five of the standings with 13 points from nine matches while Al Arabi (22 points) lost their leadership position to Al Duhail (23 pts).
The Qatar Derby clash was a tough battle between Al Arabi and Al Sadd but the latter showed a solid defence making things difficult for The Dream Team.
Al Arabi did make a raid in as early as the 5th minute but an alert Wooyoung Jung staved off the threat.
It didn’t take Al Sadd to make the charge and a big chance came their way in the 15th minute when Akram Afif put Baghdad Bounedjah through with a superb cross but the Algerian star deflected it just wide of the goal.
The battle continued and in the 40th minute Al Arabi’s Youssef Msakni looked menacing but an alert Al Sadd goalkeeper Yousef Abdullah stood ground.
Al Sadd emerged stronger in the second half making forays and using the open spaces, yet they lacked at the finish.
The big moment came when a Bounedjah kick hit the hand of Aron Gunnarsson just on the left-side edge of the danger area. A VAR check by the referee ruled a penalty and Santi Cazorla made no mistake with the kick.
Al Sadd doubled their lead soon and with a spectacular goal. It resulted off a free kick that was headed off by an Al Arabi defender but the ball went straight to Haydos who was waiting outside the box. He seized the opportunity essaying a superb volley which went through the legs of two defenders and deflected off a third and beat a diving goalkeeper to his left.
There on, Al Arabi found it difficult to challenge Al Sadd though they tried to push hard.
In the 79th minute a Msakni header went well above the target while another of his effort in the added time didn’t have much pace and went straight to goalkeeper Al Hail.
Olunga brace in
Al Duhail win
Al Duhail rode on the brace of Kenyan striker Michael Olunga to hand Umm Salal a 2-0 defeat at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Olunga struck in the 61st and 68th minutes of the match.
The victory also took Al Duhail’s points tally to 23 points in ten matches - coming from 7 victories, 2 draws and 1 loss in the league so far.
Al Shamal remained in the eighth position in the league table having 10 points. They have won 3 matches, drawn 1 game, but have suffered 4 losses thus far.
Against the Red Knights, Al Shamal put up their good defence in the opening half foiling several of their attempts on goal.
Al Shamal’s Guinean goalkeeper Babacar Seck stood out with his saves and alert anticipation which left Al Duhail frustrated at times.
In the 40th minute, Al Duhail midfielder Lotfi Majder managed to score but Olunga was ruled offside, and clearly so.
Al Duhail however didn’t have to wait much longer in the second half as their captain Almoez Ali and Olunga made for a fine combine to fetch the first goal. After a rasping drive from Almoez ricocheted off goalkeeper Seck, Olunga moved in to latch on to the chance and score.
Olunga produced his and his team’s second goal minutes soon, positioning himself perfectly to reach for Ferjani Sassi’s flag kick and place it in the left corner of the net.
The goal also saw Olunga become the league’s top-scorer. He now has a tally of 9 goals, one ahead of Jacinto Dala of Al Wakrah, who has scored 8 goals.
While Al Shamal tried hard to rally they couldn’t succeed much in breaking Al Duhail’s defence line.
Their one good chance came in the 84th minute when substitute Abdulaziz Adel Ibrahim tried to reach for a header and got a feeble back touch and the ball went on to hit the left goal post and roll away.
