Doha: Al Rayyan, El Jaish, Al Sadd and Al Arabi continued their victories in Round 8 of the Qatar Stars League.
Al Rayyan is still holding the top spot and remains undefeated after beating Wakrah 2-1 in the previous Round.
El Jaish resumed their chase of Rayyan with a resounding 5-2 win over Mesaimeer.
Both Al Sadd and Al Arabi finished Round 8 with two tough victories over Al Gharafa and Al Kharaitiyat respectively. Al Sadd defeated Al Gharafa 1-0 whilst Al Arabi beat Al Kharaitiyat 2-1.
On the other hand, Lekhwiya, the title defenders, and Al Gharafa are still struggling as both failed to win. Both teams lost in Round 8, Lekhwiya went down to a solitary Umm Salal goal and Gharafa were undone by Sadd as Muriqui once more proved to be the difference.
Also Al Ahli failed to keep their winning streak alive and lost two points due to their tie with Al Sailiya (2-2).
Also Al Kharaitiyat missed many goal-scoring opportunities during their match against Al Arabi and went on to lose the match.
Al Khor enjoyed their first ever win in Qatar stars League this season after 7 rounds by defeating Qatar Sports Club (QSC).
QSC is struggling again with their loss to Al Khor and Mesaimeer is now back at the bottom of the league table after falling short in their clash with El Jaish. Round 8 of the QSL witnessed an increase in the number of scored goals with 22 goals scored compared to 17 scored during Round 7. Total of 166 goals in 56 games.
Also the average red cards increased with two expulsions this round against Homoud Al Yazidi of Al Wakrah and Ahmed Yasser of Lekhwiya.
Referees granted three penalties which is the same number as the last round, the first of which was missed by Youssef Msakni of Lekhwiya and both Paulinho of Al Arabi) and Fawzi Aaish of Al Sailiya scored.
Finally Muriqui is back at the top of the goal-scorer chart in Qatar Stars League with eight goals, El Jaish striker Hamdallah too has 8 but missed the last Round due to injury.
Meanwhile, Lekhwiya continue to slide down the table and are now sitting in their lowest position ever after eight Rounds of QSL action.
The Red Knights have struggled with key injuries hitting their squad and the 4 match ban of Boudiaf has only exacerbated their problems. In the last 5 matches Lekhwiya have lost 14 points from a possible 15.
Gharafa too have seen their form dip significantly as they have only won one game in the last five matches and currently sit in 7. In Round 8 they lost by a single goal to Al Sadd with Muriqui scoring in the 54th minute.
Elsewhere, Goalkeeping blunders were aplenty in Round Eight.
Two moments of madness from Qatar SC’s keeper Mohammed Abu Dawood left his side with an uphill battle in their Round 8 clash with Al Khor. The keeper should have caught the ball on both occasions but bizarrely elected to punch.
Also Qasem Burhan didn’t cover himself in glory as again he too decided to punch the ball when it would have been wiser to catch the ball. The clearance fell to Muriqui who finished clinically for the wolves in the second half.
This season, every team in the QSL has won at least one game now. Last season Al Shamal had the dubious distinction of not having won a single game the entire season.
The Peninsula
