Thursday’s first Round 22 QSL fixture saw Lekhwiya regain their top spot in the QSL Championship with a hard-fought 2-1 win over mid-table Al Sailiya at Al Ahli’s Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium.Al Sailiya came into the game on a high following their last-gasp 2-1 win over Al Ahli last time out but left empty handed. As for Lekhwiya, they came into the tie desperate to bounce back and head back to the top of the table after their shock 3-1 defeat to Umm Salal saw them lose the top spot to Al Sadd on goal difference.
After an opening 18 minutes which saw Lekhwiya sit deep in Al Sailiya’s half but create very few chances, the Red Knights finally broke through and took the lead thanks to a goal from their number 19, Al Moez Ali. Lekhwiya attacked down the right wing, where they’d been finding plenty of space, and delivered a low, whipping cross into the 18 yard box that caught Al Sailiya’s defense sleeping allowing Moez to get in between the two centre backs and poke it home from just six yards out.
The rest of the first half played out much as the first 18 minutes did, with Lekhwiya sitting deep in Al Sailiya’s half. The Red Knights were unable to add to their opener though despite being awarded a penalty on the 35th minute after. Al Sailiya’s goalkeeper Gomis produced a fine save low to his right after he guessed which way Lekhwiya’s goal scoring machine, Yousef El Arabi, was going with the shot. Lekhwiya headed into the tunnel with just a one goal lead that should have been more.
Al Sailiya came out looking like a different team in the second half and had long spells pressed deep into Lekhwiya’s half. On the 50th minute they were unlucky not to equalise after they had a flurry of shots cleared off the line by Lekhwiya’s stretched defense, with Al Sailiya’s Marius Lazar having back to back shots cleared.
The tide soon turned in the favour of Lekhwiya though as they stepped up a gear. After ten minutes of second half play, their captain Mohamed Moosa somehow managed to miss from just two yards out in what may be the miss of the season. Luckily for him, just minutes later Yousef El Arabi found the back of the net to bag his 22nd goal of the season. Lekhwiya managed to beat the offside trap and deliver a cross from the right wing into the 18 yard box where El Erabi was waiting and able to stab home from just six yards out.
Al Sailiya tried desperately to get back into the game and got one back on the 83rd minute when halftime substitute Madether hammered one from the edge of the 18 yard box with a fine finish.
Al Sailiya weren’t able to find a second and nab a pint though and Lekhwiya leave top of the QSL table.
Umm Salal claim lucky victory over Muaither SC
Thursday’s late Round 22 QSL kick off saw Umm Salal beat Muaither SC 1-0 at Qatar Sports Club thanks to a lucky first half own goal, leaving the league strugglers staring down imminent relegation as the end of the season nears.
Umm Salal came into game full of confidence after their shock 3-1 defeat over then league leaders Lekhwiya in Round 21. Muaither SC turned up hoping to bounce back after a heavy defeat at the hands of Al Rayyan who hammered them 5-0 in the last round but they were unlucky and left empty handed after looking the better team over the 90 minutes.
The first half was an open and fairly balanced affair with both teams having decent spells of possession and both goalkeepers seeing their fair share of action in the box. Despite both teams looking good, it was an own goal that broke the deadlock and gifted Umm Salal a 1-0 lead.
Muaither’s Ahmed Shahi headed the ball into the back of his own net on the 34th minute when attempting to stop Umm Salal’s Yannick Sagbo connect with a fierce cross from the right wing. Looking to put the ball out for a corner and out of Sagbo’s reach at the near post, Shahi instead headed it into the bottom right hand corner of his own goal to give The Orange Fortress a lucky lead.
Muaither pressed on though and looked the better team for the remainder of the half, coming close to an equaliser on the 44th minute when their Japanese midfielder, Minori Sato, picked up the ball on the edge of the 18 yard box and turned on his defender and onto his right before unleashing a fierce shot towards the bottom right corner of the goal. Fortunately for Umm Salal, Baba Malick was well positioned and able to smother the shot.
Muaither came out in the second half at the same pace that they finished the first half with. They nearly equalised on the 71st minute in dramatic fashion when substitute Ibrahim Al-Nasr hit a lovely volley from 20 yards out. Despite hitting it perfectly on his right boot it skimmed the outside of the post and went out for a goal kick.
Muaither hammered Umm Salal for the remainder of the second half and for the last ten minutes Baba Malick was the busiest man on the pitch, making a number of crucial stops, fingertip saves and having to constantly defend corners and free kicks conceded outside the box. Despite the pressure, Muaither were not able to find the equaliser and left empty handed and firmly in the relegation danger zone.
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