Lekhwiya beat El Jaish 5-1 to maintain top spot

Lekhwiya took another step towards the 2016/17 QSL crown with a resounding 5-1 win over El Jaish at Lekhwiya Stadium as Round 24 of the QSL season came to an exciting close. The Red Knights head into Round 25 and their penultimate match with a two point lead over closest rivals, Al Sadd, who beat Al Rayyan at Al Sadd’s Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium as the season’s last Qatar Classico finished 4-1 to the hosts.

Lekhwiya began dominating from the whistle and were camped deep into the visitor’s half from the off. The Red Knights first came close after just 14 minutes when Ali Afif picked out Ismail Mohamed who was waiting in the 18 yard box and in space. Despite the pin-point cross and Mohamed connecting well with the ball, the final header sailed over the cross bar and failed to test Jaish’s goalkeeper.

Lekhwiya continued to pile on the pressure which eventually paid off on the 29th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Jaish’s goalkeeper clumsily brought down Almoez Ali who was running into the box to connect with a chipped through ball. The referee was quick to blow for a whistle and Lekhwiya’s captain, Mohammed Musa, stepped up and smashed it down the middle of the goal to give the Red Knights the lead.

Things went from bad to worse for Jaish who lost possession from kick-off and gifted Lekhwiya a second after some poor defending. After a number of lazy and ill-advised back passes, Lekhwiya pressured and dispossessed a lacklustre looking Jaish defence which enabled South Korean international, Nam Tae-hee, to pick the ball up in the 18 yard box and hit a low hard shot to make it 2-0 and take his individual tally to 13.

It didn’t take long for Lekhwiya to find the back of the net in the second half and make it 3-0 to all but secure the three points and keep them top of the table. Ali Afif found himself in space in the 18 yard box after just a minute of play in the second half and able to easily hit a low shot home on his right following some scrappy defending from Jaish.

Jaish hit one back just a minute later after a goal from their Brazilian forward, Romarinho, a fine strike which would end up being just a consolation goal. After picking up the ball on the edge of the 18 yard box on the left wing, the Brazilian turned inside and struck a sweet right footed shot which floated over the goalkeeper and into the far top corner to give them hope at 3-1.  

Just moments later, Lekhwiya finished off the tie and ensured they’d be sitting at the top the table tonight and taking a two point lead into the final two rounds of the season when Edgar made it 4-1 with a fine finish on the inside of his right from 16 yards out. Lekhwiya weren’t finished with four though and made it five in injury time when Moez headed home a rebounded corner kick after some more scrappy defending from Jaish.

The top two go into what should be easy fixtures in round 25, with Lekhwiya facing off against Al Ahli and Al Sad taking on Lekhwiya and Al Sadd taking on Al Sailiya.