Doha: Al Rayyan left it late to defeat fellow promoted side Meisameer 2-0 at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium, yesterday.
The promoted sides have had vastly different starts to the Qatar Stars League (QSL) season, with Rayyan coming into the tie unbeaten whilst Meisameer had not registered a single point so far.
The first half Meisameer sprung into life having two clear chances to open the scoring. The Flames Brazilian striker Erivelto was the first to go close, his effort was comfortably dealt with by Rayyan keeper Omar Barry. Only minutes later Meisameer’s captain Mohammed Noori beat the Rayyan offside trap to go one on one with Barry, the Rayyan keeper ended up victorious again.
Al Rayyan slowly found their way into the match, with talismanic captain Rodrego Tabata pulling the strings for his side. The Qatari international was a constant menace throughout, a brilliant pinpoint pass to Hamad Ismael that gave the Lions their first chance in the tie.
Tabata was again a menace from the deadball, and a well drilled free kick on the 40th minute brought a strong save from Meisameer keeper Basel Zidan. Both sides went in level 0-0.
In the second half, Rayyan came out with renewed vigor, creating a host of chances and putting Meisameer under pressure. Sebastian Soria came close with a glancing header just over the bar from a well delivered Rodrego Tabata free kick on the 51st minute.
Meisameer had to call on the services of experience keeper Basel Zidan to keep them in the game, with a host of crucial saves at the start of the second half. Indeed, Meisameer did mange two golden chances to open the scoring on the break. A well worked shot from Saoud Ali only just passed Omar Barry’s right had post. Whilst stiker Erivelto has guilt edged chance drifts past the post on the 74th minute.
The flames would set to rue those chances, as Al Rayyan opened the scoring though new signing Gonzalo Viera on the 79th minute. He scored from close range, after being set up by compatriot Victor Cacares, much to the delight of the Rayyan fans.
Meisameer looked tied after working hard against the Rayyan onslaught, and deserved to be level for their efforts. Al Rayyan delivered the final blow in the 88th minute to wrap up the match, Sergio Garcia beat the offside trap and volleyed from close range thanks to another accurate pinpoint pass from Tabata.
Meisameer will feel hard done by the defeat, especially after closing out the Rayyan attack for long periods of time. On this showing, the Flames look more than capable of upsetting the odds and beating the drop to the Qatar Gas League. Al Rayyan go top after win. Meanwhile, Al Wakrah registered their first win of the 2015-16 season defeating Al Khor 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Portuguese Midfielder Ruben Amorim.
Wakrah were under pressure coming into this match. Not only had they lost their first three matches in the QSL, more worrying was that they had conceded seven goals in the process including four in the last defeat against Al Sadd.
Wakrah’s Uruguayan coach Jose Mauricio had said during the pre-match press conference that his team was working on rectifying their defensive frailties.
“I agree that we should have more defensive strength and we have worked a lot on this aspect. And I hope that individual mistakes or collective mistakes will disappear as we move forward,” Mauricio had said.
And that need to put in a better defensive effort was on display in a tough match against Al Khor. The Blue Waved were aided by the fact that they were able to score an early goal in the 18th minute. With a well worked team goal, Moucine Moutaouali lobbed a cross into the box from the right flank which was headed down by Mahir Bakur into the path of Ruben Amorim and the former Benfica midfielder calmly flicked it in with the outside of his right foot to give Wakrah the lead.
THE PENINSULA
