Captain Tabata guides Al Rayyan as Al Kharaitiyat down Qatar SC

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Captain Rodrigo Tabata led from the front with his 14th goal of the season to power Al Rayyan past in-form Al Sailiya on Monday while Al Kharaitiyat edged Qatar SC to pick up points in round 14 of the Qatar Stars League (QSL). 
 
 
With Tabata showing ruthless form, Al Rayyan beat Al Sailia 2-1 at Gharafa Stadium to increase their QSL lead to 12 points. 
 
At the same venue earlier in the day, Umm Salal shared points with Al Khor as the match ended in a goalless draw. 
 
In the third game of the day, Yahia Kebe's double helped Al Kharaitiyat pick up points with 3-2 win at Al Wakrah Stadium. 
 
Al Rayyan's advantage of 12 points over their rivals could be reduced to 10 on Tuesday if third-placed El Jaish can beat Al Ahli. Al Sailiya, who went into the game on a four-match winning streak, remain seventh in the table. 
 
 
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Sergio Garcia put Al Rayyan in front in the 64th minute but Al Sailiya equalised less than two minutes later thanks to a stunning hit from Mirghani Al Zain. 
 
The midfielder collected the ball 30 yards from goal and produced a cracking right-footed finish which goalkeeper Omar Bari could only finger tip into the top corner. 
 
It was Tabata who had the final say though. With a draw looking likely, Al Rayyan’s talismanic midfielder was brought down in the box. 
 
He dusted himself down for the spot-kick and fired the ball into the centre of Gregory Gomis’s goal. The penalty was far from convincing, but it will matter little to Jorge Fossati and his men. 
 
Al Rayyan almost increased their lead in the 88th minute but Fahad Khalfan’s header rebounded off the post with Gomis motionless. 
 
Both sides created chances in the first half but it was Al Sailiya who came closest to breaking the deadlock. 
 
Abdulgadir Ilyas Bakur twice came close in the opening 10 minutes. He almost diverted a cross which Bari did well to prevent going over the line, and then hit the post with a right-footed effort after latching on to a raking cross-field pass. 
 
As ever Tabata was at the centre of Al Rayyan’s creativity. He narrowly missed the target with a free-kick early on and then twice came close to opening the scoring at the end of the half; first with a header and then with a left-footed effort from a tight angle. 
 
Al Rayyan were the most purposeful side after the break and deserved to go in front. 
 
However, Al Sailiya will feel unlucky not to have grabbed a point from the game, especially after Al Zain’s stunning equaliser. 
 
In the end, it was champions-elect Al Rayyan who again came out on top – much to the delight of coach Fossati. 
 
** Qatar SC 2-3 Al Kharaitiyat 
 
 
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Al Kharaitiyat on Monday registered back-to-back wins for the first time this season by defeating Qatar SC 3-2 in an entertaining encounter. 
 
Al Kharaitiyat took the lead twice only for Qatar SC to hit back with an equalizer but the third goal found no response as Amar Osim’s boys claimed a thrilling victory. 
 
Al Kharaitiyat scored an early goal and then played a clever counter-attacking game to defeat their opponents who enjoyed a large share of the possession. At the end of the game, Qatar SC finished with 59 per cent of the possession but still ended up on the losing side. 
 
The first goal of the match came in the seventh minute when Kebe curled in a great freekick over the head of the Qatar SC 'keeper Mohamad Mubarak. 
 
Qatar SC found the equalizer with another piece of individual brilliance. In the 23rd minute, Khaled Ahmad provided a great through pass and Moussa al-Allaq slotted the ball in past Al Kharaitiyat goalkeeper Ahmed Sofyan. 
 
It looked like the two teams will go into the half-time break on par but Kebe’s power proved too much for Qatar SC keeper Mubarak. 
 
Mahmoud Saad slipped into the centre of the box where an unmarked Kebe fired a bullet. Mubarak got a hand to it but the ball hit the ground and deflected off the 'keeper and into the goal. 
 
The second half saw a great end-to-end goal from Qatar SC to restore parity. 
 
Keeper Mubarak lobbed the ball to Mohsen Yajour and the Moroccan striker was able to ward off a defender, slip past the Kharaitiyat 'keeper Sufyan and score. 
 
This 53rd minute strike took just eight seconds from the keeper’s kick to Yajour finding the back of the net. 
 
It all came down to another through pass and another moment of individual skill that saw Kharaitiyat take the lead. 
 
In the 67th minute, Mahmoud Saad turned provider again when he produced another through pass to Mohamed Abdulrab who then produced a clever chip over Mubarak to give his team the lead and what turned out to be the winning goal. 
 
** Umm Salal held by Al Khor 
 
 
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In an earlier game, Umm Salal on Monday were held to a goalless draw by Al Khor at Al Gharafa Stadium. 
 
By virtue of Monday's draw, Umm Salal have now 22 points from 14 matches whereas Al Khor have a tally of 13 points. 
 
It was Umm Salal's seventh draw this season while Al Khor - placed 12th out of 14 teams - have drawn four of their matches. 
 
Umm Salal, who were thrashed by Al Kharaitiyat last week, failed to spark in Monday's clash much to the disappointment of coach Belent Uygun. 
 
After a cagey display in the first half, both sides picked up momentum in the second but the defense lines of Umm Salal and Al Khor withstood the pressure to maintain a clean slate. 
 
At the hour-mark, Umm Salal wasted their best chance of scoring when Ivory Coast striker Yannick Sagbo missed a spot kick, smashing his kick wide of the crossbar. 
 
In a similar wasted effort, Al Khor's Madson Formagini Caridade missed a scoring opportunity from close range. 
 
Round 14 action continues today with three games.