Doha: Al Wakrah defeated Al Gharafa 2-1 to retain thier place in the Qatar Star League while Al Shahaniya and Al Shamal got relegated to second division.
In yesterday last round match Al Wakrah calmed their nerves with an early goal. Long ball tactics worked for the Waves, with Argentinian striker Sebastian Saez on the spot with a crucial header for his side, which looped over Al Gharafa keeper Qasem Burhan.
Wakrah looked commanding in the second half and could have doubled their lead in the 21st minute, Saez broke Gharafa’s defensive line, threatened but his shot didn’t hit the target.
The Waves looked dangerous on the break, with much of their good work coming though the pacey Moroccan playmaker Mohassine Moutaouli.
Gharafa are under new management as interim coach Habib Sadiq took over after the dismissal of Brazilian tactician Marcos Paqueta.
However the Cheetahs looked disjointed in the first half with the Waves looking the sharper side, especially on the counter attack. In the second half Gharafa looked dangerous and rightly equalized on the 47th minute through Claudio Keseru. Santos fought strongly to win and angle his towards the Romanian who powerfully finished past the Wakrah keeper as he sent him the wrong way.
The pressure was on Wakrah, who looked shell shocked for a time, however against the run of play Al Wakrah took the lead on the 61st minute from defender Johar Kaabi.
The well worked free kick was calmly headed in by the defender although Gharafa should be aggrieved with the goal, as four Wakrah players where clearly offside when the set piece was played.
The Cheetahs however didn’t look down beat and should have equalized through Costa Rican winger Cristian Bolanos. But Wakrah held on, to beat the drop with a nervy 2-1 victory ensuring that the Waves will be in next season’s Qatar Stars League.
The Waves finished in 12th whilst Gharafa finished in 7th, one position better than last season. The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar Stars League champions Lekhwiya eased to a comfortable 5-0 victory over Al Sailiya at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium to end the season on a wining note.
The Cops welcomed back a host of players to their side and took a quick fire lead in the 10th minute through Vladimir Weiss, the playmaker volleying past Sailiya keeper Gregory Gomis from the cushioned header of defender Dame Traore. Sailiya looked to get back into the tie, striker Issam Jemma’s turned and shot but could only hit the side netting.
On the 45th minute the lively Weiss was brought down in the box and Lekhwiya were awarded a penalty. Sebastian Soria stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner to give the Cops a 2 goal lead going into the second half.
Things went from bad to worse for Sailiya in the second half as they went down to 10 men, with Omer being sent off for a rash challenge. Lekhwiya were all but assured victory moments after with the mercurial Weiss scoring a stunning goal to give a 3-0 lead for his side, the Slovakian who missed his sides championship win against Ahli through suspension scored the game’s best goal. The winger scoring a powerful shot into the top right hand corner on the 52nd minute of the match. Sailiya looked hapless with ten men and Lekhwiya further increased their lead on the 56th minute. Ali Afif’s free kick bounced into the net as it bamboozled the Peregrines defense, giving Michael Laudrup’s men an unsalable lead. In the 70th minute the final goal was scored through substitute winger Ismael tapping in his side’s fifth goal of the evening.
Doha: Anderson Martins scored his second goal in the 94th minute to give El Jaish a last-gasp and thrilling 2-1 win over Al Kharaitiyat at the Abdulla bin Khalifa Stadium.
More importantly, the win helped them qualify for the Asian Champions League (ACL) play offs.
Before the match Jaish were third in the table, one point ahead of Qatar SC in fourth place and with only the top three teams in the QSL eligible to partake in the ACL it was imperative that the Soldiers ended the season on a win
However El Jaish were coming from a huge 5-2 defeat at the hands of rivals Al Sadd. They were playing Kharaitiyat – a team that had improved leaps and bounds in the second half of the season. In fact the second half of the QSL season had seen the Thunders lose only once, prior to tonight’s match.
To complicate matters, it was Kharaitiyat who scored an early goal through Hasan AbdelFattah in the fifth minute as they took a shock lead. It was the Jordian’s 16th goal of the season.
Kharaitiyat then sat back and allowed Jaish do all the attacking but frustratingly for the Soldiers, that couldn’t make it count.
The first half ended and Jaish were in danger of missing out on the final champions League qualification spot.
In the second half too, the game was largely played in Kharaitiyat’s half, with the goal that they were searching for remaining very much elusive.
In the 79th minute Martins scored his first goal of the match to give Jaish a glimmer of hope. After that, Jaish were relentless but were wasting a lot of chances. Then finally when it seemed that they would have to be satisfied with a draw, skipper Martins produced a goal with literally the last shot of the match.
Jaish had 18 attempts at goal out of which six were on target. But it was the two that they converted that made all the difference.
An exhilarating result for Jaish and they will have something to cheer for, in what has been a disappointing season by their high standards. Kharaitiyat meanwhile won’t be too disappointed with the loss as they managed to finish ninth. The Peninsula
