Al Duhail beat Al Rayyan 3-0 in a high-profile clash in Week 6 of the 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Sunday.

Paulo Edmilson Junior (third-minute, penalty), Almoez Ali (40th-minute penalty) and Michael Olunga (55th minute) found the net for Al Duhail in what turned out to be an entertaining clash in front of a sizeable crowd.

Al Duhail took their tally to 15 points from five matches (all-win record) and Al Rayyan stood on six points.

Al Duhail have a postponed match against Al Wakrah to be played from Week 5. It is scheduled for Thursday, 21st October, 2021.

In just the second minute, Al Rayyan’s Khaled Muftah seemingly pushed Al Duhail’s Edmilson, playing after a long layoff, inside the box. Referee Mohammed Al Shammari pointed to the spot and Edmilson scored in the third minute with a drive to the right of keeper Fahad Younes.

Al Rayyan’s Shojae Khalilzadeh produced a snap-header which narrowly missed the goalpost to the left of Al Duhail keeper in the 27th minute.

Almost 12 minutes later, Al Rayyan were guilty of another misdemeanour inside their own box when Dame Traore – while producing a sliding tackle – upended Al Duhail’s Olunga.

The referee, after consulting VAR, ruled a penalty in favour of Al Duhail and Almoez scored from the spot kick, but the referee asked the Qatar national team striker to take the penalty again. Almoez once again chose left as he drilled the ball past the Al Rayyan keeper to help his team go 2-0 up.

Ten minutes after changing ends, Al Duhail’s Olunga deflected a ball into the net from close range after an assist by Ismail Mohammed from outside the box.

Twelve minutes later, Olunga had the chance to add another one with a stretched effort to deflect the ball into the net from the edge of the box, but the rival goalkeeper parried the ball away.

A similar, but long-range shot by James Rodriguez, Al Rayyan's star recruit who was playing his first match in Qatar, in the 75th minute saw Al Duhail keeper Mohammed Al Bakri dive to his left to effect a save.

The hits and misses for Al Rayyan continued in the second half too and Rodrigues failed to grab a goal-scoring opportunity from close range midway through the second half.