DOHA: Lekhwiya yesterday crushed Al Ahli 4-0 to continue their win streak in the Qatar Stars League (QSL).
Yesterday’s commanding show was Lekhwiya’s fourth successive win. With this result Lekhwiya have accumulated 22 points while Al Ahli stay put with 14 points.
Lekhwiya settled the match early during the first half when they scored three goals starting with the Korean Nam Tae Hee in the 7th minute. Youssef Mesakny scored in the 11th minute while Mohamed Muntari fired one home in the 38th minute.
Substitute Vladimir Weiss scored Lekhwiya’s fourth goal in the 81st minute.
The first half witnessed a decent number of attempts from Al Ahli players who tried draw level.
Congolese striker Ndombe Mubele missed an opportunity to score in the 13th minute. In 29th minute, Mubele came close to scoring but fumbled with his shot in the 29th minute.
Lekhwiya, however, were never in doubt when they fired home two goals in the first 11 minutes of the match and closed the first half with a 3-0 card.
Al Ahli players weren’t able to put any pressure create a move that would put prtessure on Lekhwiya’s goalkeeper Claude Amine.
Al Ahli head coach made three substitutions with the aim of rectifying things, but it was Lekhwiya who scored the fourth goal late in the second half.
With this huge win over Al Ahli, Lekhwiya has proved that they are determined to narrow the gap on the top three sides in QSL.
In another match, Qatar SC yesterday were able to hold Al Gharafa to a goalless draw, a rare occurrence in the QSL this season.
There have only three occasions this season so far that a match has ended with neither team being able to get on the score sheet.
The previous time it happened was in the Round 7 encounter between Al Gharafa and Umm Salal.
Al Gharafa had the better chances and should have come out of this match with three points but striker Alain Dioko missed a couple of clear chances.
The Congolese striker would have easily found the back of the net if this were last season but Dioko still has to find the form which saw him win the Mansour Muftah award last year.
The first clear chance of the match came late in the first half and it fell to Qatar SC when Mousa Allaq latched onto a great through pass and had an open goal with only the Al Gharafa goalkeeper Abdulaziz Abdulla to beat.
But Allaq’s chip shot ended up being deflected by Abdulla who had made himself as wide as he could. Abdulla who got the nod ahead of regular goalkeeper Qasem Burham did a good job there to justify his selection.
The second half belonged completely to Al Gharafa. In the 62nd minute Dioko had the first of his two clear chances. Fahid Al-Shammari passed to Dioko in the centre but the Congolese striker couldn’t connect with the ball, which was slightly behind him, and the chance was wasted.
Then there was a long hold up because Qatar SC goalkeeper Mohamed Mubarak was involved in a collision with Gharafa’s Yasin Shekaoui and needed lengthy medical attention. Mubarak continued to play with a bandaged jaw.
In the 82nd minute Al Gharafa had what would be their best chance of the match. Al Shammari provided a incisive pass into the box but Dioko was again off-target. There were eight minutes of added time, which saw Shekaoui sent off with a second yellow but neither team could find a goal and the match ended in a stalemate.
The Peninsula
