Al Sadd ease past Al Sailiyah

Al Sadd moved to the top of the Qatar Stars League (QSL) standings with a professional 3-1 victory over Al Sailiyah at Qatar SC Stadium yesterday.
Sadd grabbed two goals in the first half from Morteza Pouraliganji and Xavi before substitute Khalfan Ibrahim completed his sides scoring on the 74th minute.
Al Sailiyah did find a late consolation from Qatari midfielder Sayaf Al-Korbi, and missed a stoppage time penalty as Sadd maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
The Wolves started the tie on the front foot and tested Al Sailiyah keeper Gregory Gomis on the fifth minute striker Bagdad Bounjah knocked a ball across the penalty box to Ali Asad,  however the Qatar international’s shot was easily saved.
The resulting corner from Xavi was whipped in and found the head of Morteza Pouraliganji who scored the opener. The Iranian international leapt ahead of Al Sailiyah defender Dragos Grigore  and planted the ball into the back of the net, with just six minutes on the clock.
Sadd began to assert themselves and had two quick chances to push ahead. After being bundled down outside the box,  Hassan Haydoos brought out a good save from Sailiyah stopper Gregory Gomis with a well taken free-kick.
Seconds later Sadd had a chance to double their advantage as wing-back Abdulkarim Hassan exhibited plenty of technique to hit a half volley which fizzed past the left hand post.
Jesualdo Ferreira’s side deservedly doubled their lead on the 33rd minute as Xavi scored his sixth of the season with a low drive into the bottom left hand corner. A well timed  though ball from Bagdad Bounjah fell to the Sadd captain who made no mistake from close range.
Al Sailiyah improved in the second half but where reduced to half chances for the majority of the game. Five minutes after the restart lively Sailiyah attacker Mohammed Muddather, perhaps should of pulled a goal back, but his shot was comfortably saved by Saad Al Sheeb.
Sadd slowly began to grow in confidence and did have the ball in the net for a third time, however goalscorer Bagdad Bounjah was judged offside.  Moments later the Wolves
Substitute Khalfan scored in second goal in as many games with a standout piece of play on the 74th minute. The  Al Sadd midfielder started the move, exchanging a neat one-two with Bagdad Bounjah, Khalfan found himself free in the penalty box and showed plenty of composure to slot the ball past Gregory Gomis to give his side a three goal lead.  
Sayaf Al-Korbi pulled a goal back for Sailiyah with three minutes to play, drilling the ball into the right hand corner after the ball was neatly passed to him from substitute Paul Efoulou. Sailiyah could have had a second of the evening from the penalty spot however  Paul Efoulou’s effort was saved by Saad Al Sheeb.
In the other match, League strugglers Al Shahaniya and Al Khor took a point each after drawing 2-2 at Al Arabi Stadium.
Both teams came into the tie desperately needing three points with Al Shahaniya becoming draw specialists after registering three ties in their last five QSL matches and Al Khor losing their last five games and heading towards the  relegation.
After a lacklustre opening which saw not a single shot on goal, Al Khor took the lead after they were gifted a penalty following some poor defending from The Oryxes.
Sloppy passing between Al Shahaniya’s back four handed Al Khor’s Babou Sidiki the ball on the edge of the 18 yard box and allowed him to run at goal. Before Skid was able to get a shot away he was tripped by a backtracking Nabeel Anwa and the referee was quick to blow for a penalty.
Al Khor’s Brazilian defender Welinton Souza, stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. Al Khor made it two just before the break after yet more defensive errors from Shahaniya. After a cross was whipped into the 18 yard box from the right wing, Al Khor’s number 14, Reza Shanbeh Najafi, found himself with acres of space at the back post and was able to find young striker Ali Abdulkarem, who was unmarked and able to help the ball across the line from a yard out to bag his first goal of the season. Al Shahaniya came out after the break with a determined look about them and started pressing from the whistle. Their sustained pressure paid off on the 61st minute when on loan Qatari striker, Fahad Khalfan, hit a lightening free kick from 22 yards out that smashed into the top right hand corner of the goal.
Nine minutes later Al Shahaniya grabbed a well-deserved equaliser after Al Khor’s Captain, Mostafa Jafri, failed to deal with a long goal kick from Al Shahaniya’s Al-Dosari. Thinking his goalkeeper was coming out to take the ball, Jafri left it to bounce but failed to realise that Al Shahaniya’s Kaled Gourmi, was chasing him down. Khaled managed to poke the ball from between Jafri’s legs before his keeper could reach it and it trickled into the back of the net to make it 2-2.