The 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League’s Week 2 action, held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, was not devoid of excitement despite the drop in the scoring rate, with 14 goals being scored compared to 20 goals in Week 1.

The results:

Umm Salal drew Al Sadd       1-1

Qatar SC drew Al Markhiya  1-1

Al Gharafa drew Al Wakra    1-1

Al Sailiya bt Al Shamal 2-1

Al Ahli drew Al Duhail 1-1

Al Arabi bt Al Rayyan  2-1

Al Arabi remained the only team to win in the first two rounds, while five sides have yet to register a win.

It may also be noted that four matches ended with one result (1-1 draw) and two ended with same result (2-1).

In the opener, Umm Salal took the lead through Joao Carlos Teixeira before the end of first half. They finished the match with 10 players after Abdullah Khafifi was sent off and Al Sadd managed to equalize through Baghdad Bounedjah.

With this result, both teams scored their first points as Al Sadd had lost to Al Markhiya and Umm Salal to Al Ahli.

In the second match, Al Markhiya continued their strong performance and succeeded in holding Qatar SC to a draw. Badr Banoun took Qatar SC ahead with a penalty kick, while Ayman Hussein scored the equalizer for Al Markhiya.

Al Markhiya’s Ayoub Azzi was sent off in the last minute of the match.

Qatar SC thus got their first point as they had lost to Al Arabi. Al Markhiya raised their tally to four points.

In one of the top matches of this round, Al Gharafa and Al Wakrah played out a 1-1 draw after an exciting show from both teams.

Al Gharafa opened the scoring through Islam Toktahugayev and Gelson Dala scored the equalizer for Al Wakrah.

The match witnessed the debut of Algerian Yacine Brahimi for Al Gharafa.

Al Gharafa and Al Wakrah raised their score to four points.

In the fourth match, Al Sailiya beat Al Shamal for their first victory in the league. Giannis Fetfatzidis and Carlos Strandberg scored for Al Sailiya even though Al Shamal were the first to score through Mohammed El Sayed (Jeddo).

The fifth game saw Al Ahli and Al Duhail share the spoils with a 1-1 score. As the match looked heading for a goalless draw, substitute Nasser Al Yazidi took Al Duhail ahead, but Hussein Kanaani snatched the equalizer for Al Ahli through a penalty kick in the dying minutes.

Al Duhail thus opened their tally, having lost to Al Wakrah in their opener, whereas Al Ahli moved on to four points as they had beaten Umm Salal in Week 1.

The week’s action concluded with the summit clash between Al Arabi and Al Rayyan at the Lusail World Cup Stadium played in front of more than 20,000 spectators.

The encounter lived up to its top billing and sparks flew on the pitch. Al Arabi were the first to advance with a beautiful goal scored by Yousef Msakni. Mehrdad Mohammadi added their second goal with a penalty kick. Yohan Boli scored the only goal of Al Rayyan.

The match witnessed the expulsion of Al Arabi’s Mohammed Badr Sayyar in the dying minutes.

With this victory, Al Arabi topped the table with six points, while Al Rayyan are the only side yet to collect a point.

The 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League’s Week 3 matches are as follows.

Monday, 15th August, 2022

Al Sailiya vs Qatar SC

Al Wakrah vs Umm Salal

Tuesday, 16th August, 2022

Al Arabi vs Al Markhiya

Al Duhail vs Al Rayyan

Wednesday, 17th August, 2022

Al Sadd vs Al Ahli

Al Shamal vs Al Gharafa