The 2021-2022 QNB Stars League’s Week 17 saw as many as 31 goals, the most for any week so far this season, being scored across six matches, played on Friday and Saturday, 4th and 5th February, 2022.

RESULTS

Al Ahli bt Al Khor         6-3

Al Arabi bt Al Shamal   4-2

Umm Salal lost to Qatar SC    1-2

Al Wakrah bt Al Sailiya          2-1

Al Gharafa lost to Al Sadd      1-5

Al Rayyan lost to Al Duhail    0-4

As far as positions are concerned, Al Sadd lead the standings with 43 points and two matches in hand (against Qatar SC and Al Rayyan), Al Duhail second with 36 points, Al Wakrah third with 31 points, Al Gharafa fourth with 26 points (on better goal difference than Al Arabi who too have 26 points, Umm Salal sixth with 25 points, Al Ahli seventh with 20 points, Qatar SC eighth with 19 points and one match in hand (against Al Sadd), Al Rayyan ninth with 17 points and one match in hand (against Al Sadd), Al Shamal 10th with 13 points, Al Khor 11th with 11 points and Al Sailiya 12th with seven points.

It may be noted that all games ended in victories and only Al Duhail kept a clean sheet. The Al Ahli vs Al Khor match witnessed the most number of goals (nine), and two matches had an identical 2-1 result.

The round also saw Al Gharafa’s Iranian player Saeid Ezatolahi and Al Sailiya’s Uzbek recruit Dostonbek Khamdamov make debut.

Five teams – Al Arabi, Qatar SC, Al Wakrah, Al Duhail and Al Ahli – got back to the winning path.

Six players – Al Sadd’s Andre Ayew, Al Duhail’s  Michael Olunga, Al Arabi’s Aaron Boupendza, Al Shamal’s Jeison Escobar, Qatar SC’s Sebastian Soria and Al Ahli’s Aldokali Said – each scored two goals.

Leaders and holders Al Sadd continued their unbeaten run by beating Al Gharafa 5-1.

Al Sadd’s scorers were Abdelkarim Hassan, Rodrigo Tabata, Santi Cazorla and substitute Andre Ayew (double).

Gabriel Perez netted Al Gharafa’s only goal.

Al Duhail recorded a comfortable 4-0 win over Al Rayyan, with Nam Tae-Hee, Michael Olunga (double) and Mohammed Musa scoring the goals.

Al Arabi were convincing in their 4-2 win over Al Shamal.

Aron Gunnarsson, Boupendza (double) and Ahmed Suhail scored for Al Arabi, while Escobar scored Al Shamal’s goals.

Abdullah Al Sulaiti, Jose Pozo, Aldokali (double), Abdulrahman Al Harazi and Hossein Kanaani were the scorers in Al Ahli’s 6-3 win over Al Khor, for whom Ahmed Al Mohannadi, Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Juma Al Habsi found the target.

Sebastian Soria scored both goals for Qatar SC in their 2-1 victory over Al Shamal, for whom Isael Barbosa pulled one back.

Jacinto Dala and Mohamed Benyettou scored to help Al Wakrah defeat Al Sailiya 2-1. Driss Fettouhi was Al Sailiya’s scorer.

Al Duhail’s Kenyan striker Olunga continued to be the top scorer with 19 goals. He scored two goals in their 4-0 win over Al Rayyan. Al Sadd’s Ayew, who too scored a brace in their 5-1 win over Al Gharafa, is second with 12 goals, followed by his team-mates Akram Afif, Baghdad Bounedjah and Umm Salal’s Ayman Hussein (all 11 goals). Al Wakrah’s Jacinto Dala has 10 goals to her credit.

The 2021-2022 QNB Stars League’s Week 18 matches will be played on 9th and 10th February with three games on each day.

Wednesday, 9th February, 2022

Al Sadd vs Umm Salal

Al Duhail vs Al Shamal

Al Wakrah vs Qatar SC

Thursday, 10th February, 2022

Al Sailiya vs Al Rayyan

Al Arabi vs Al Ahli

Al Khor vs Al Gharafa