Doha: Defending Qatar Stars League champions Lekhwiya suffered a surprising loss of 3-2 in the hands of Al Sailiya who proved that they were the better side of the day at the Qatar SC Grounds last evening.
Al Sailiya took an early lead when Bahraini Faouzi Mubarak Aaish struck in the 37th minute of the game which was earlier expected to be dominated by the defending champions.
However Lekhwiya’s South Korean midfielder Taehee Nam found the back of the net in the 60th minute and nine minutes later, last year’s top scorer in the QSL, Alain Dioko netted one more to make it 2-1 for the top favourites. Abdulrahman Mohammed scored the equalizer in the 82nd minute and only three minutes later, Mubarak Aaish scored his second goal to put Al Sailiya on top.
Qatar Sports Club left came back fighting but their effort was only enough to force a 2-2 draw against with Umm Salal at their home grounds last evening.
The Kings have new winter signing Emiliano Vecchio to thank, as he slotted away a penalty in the 95th minute of the tie, effectively saving the points for his side. Umm Salal got off to a good start and pressed Qatar SC back for long periods of the first half. Eventually Umm Salal took a deserved lead on the 38th minute. Sanzhar Tursunov played through a perfect pass to Mounir El Hamdaoui who flicked the ball over the oncoming keeper to end the first half 1-0 in their favour.
The Orange Fortress doubled their lead on the 68th minute when Ivorian striker Yannick Sagbo calmly slotted away from the penalty spot for his 12th goal of the season.
However their rivals entered the fray in the 85th minute as midfielder Fadil Omar seemingly danced his way through the Salal defensive line to slot past Salal stopper Baba Malick to give his side a lifeline. 2-1 Game on.
Qatar Sports Club completed their dramatic comeback on the 95th minute when Argentine playmaker Vecchio kept his nerve from the penalty spot to give Sebastiao Lazaroni’s side a share of the spoils, much to the frustration to Salal coach Bülent Uygun. Gianfranco Zola’s Al Arabi side survived a massive threat from opponents Al Gharafa to beat them 3-2 in a pulsating QSL match-up last night.
Arabi skippper Ashkan Dejagah provided a goal and an assist for his side. Arabi opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a well worked quick corner from new signing Alan Souza found Dejagh, and his powerful shot found the back of the net after being palmed into the net by Gharafa keeper Qasem Burhan. Gharafa found an equalizer when Kristian Nemeth netted one in the 33rd minute. Al Arabi doubled their lead at the start of the second half when Dejagah delivered an inch perfect cross to an onrushing Yousef Ali who slotted past Qasem Burhan.
Arabi found a third goal, effectively ending the competition on the 73rd minute. New signing Javad Nekounam calmly put though to fellow new recruit Alain Souza who found the bottom left hand corner. The composed finish from the Brazilian rightly brought a smile to Gianfranco Zola’s face. Despite being three goals down, Gharafa did mount a mini revival in the final five minutes of the tie Kristian Nemeth grabbed his first goal for his side on the 89th minute.
Nemeth also had the ball in the net in stoppage time for his new club, however he was rightly flagged offside.
With the final act of the game, Iranian international Masoud Shojai scored a fine individual goal, to leave the final score 3-2 to Al Arabi.
The Peninsula
