Qatar SC scored a hard-fought, thrilling 1-0 win over Al Rayyan in their postponed match from Week 18 of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Sunday.

The winning goal for Qatar SC came in the 83rd minute from a penalty strike taken by Moroccan professional Badr Benoun.

The victory took Qatar SC’s tally to 29 points being sixth in the league standings, while Al Rayyan remained ninth with 17 points – tied with 10th-placed Al Shamal, but ahead on goal difference.

Till the deciding spot kick, Qatar SC had held sway over The Lions. They had made a flurry of raids on the Al Rayyan citadel when on one occasion a strike from Qatar SC substitute Jassim Al Jalabi was ‘handled’ by Dami Traore.

A VAR check made the referee signal to the spot and Benoun made no mistake in beating Al Rayyan goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodrigues to his right.

Qatar SC’s Iraqi midfielder Bashar Resan also excelled in the field throughout the match. In the 20th minute, he made a solo attempt before losing steam inside the box.

In the 23rd minute, a long goal kick by Qatar SC custodian Sataa Al Abbasi saw Resan pick the ball and rush towards the opposite goal menacingly, but his kick went wide of the mark.

Al Rayyan’s close chance came in injury time of first half when Yohan Boli made a header off a corner kick, but goalkeeper Al Abbasi was well in position to spoil the chance.

Soon in the second half, Qatar SC captain Sebastian Soria made a good strike from the right, but it was parried away by the Al Rayyan goalkeeper.

In the 70th minute, the hard-working Bashar was again in the thick of action as he moved past defenders to strike from the top of the box, but the ball went just wide of the right post.

The next minute, there was more action as Rodrigues rushed out to tackle Eisa Ahmad Palangi and left the post in danger, but Al Rayyan defenders kicked the ball away to safety.

The lurking Qatar SC eventually reaped the reward as Al Rayyan fumbled inside the danger zone while trying to defend, giving away the penalty.

This was Al Rayyan’s second successive loss after their 3-4 defeat to Al Duhail in their postponed match from Week 15 last Tuesday, while Qatar SC had lost their last game 0-2 to Al Sadd in Week 19.