The 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League’s Week 7 action, held on 13th and 14th September, 2022, saw thrilling match-ups before the tournament takes a long break. As many as 15 goals were scored and three of the six matches ended in draws.

THE RESULTS

Al Duhail drew Al Sailiya      1-1

Al Gharafa bt Al Markhiya  2-1

Umm Salal drew Al Arabi     1-1

Al Shamal drew Al Ahli         2-2

Al Wakrah bt Al Sadd  2-1

Qatar SC bt Al Rayyan          1-0

The seventh round witnessed two expulsions, those of Al Markhiya defender Ayoub Azzi and Al Arabi defender Marc Muniesa.

Three penalty kicks were awarded and converted, by Ishaq Belfodil of Al Gharafa, Hussein Kanaani of Al Ahli and Santi Cazorla of Al Sadd.

Al Arabi maintained the top spot with 16 points and Al Wakrah advanced to second with 15 points as Al Duhail dropped to third place with 14 points. Al Gharafa (12 points), Al Ahli (10 points) and Al Shamal (10 points) retained the fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively, while Qatar SC climbed from ninth to seventh with 10 points. Al Markhiya slipped from seventh to eighth with eight points. Al Sadd too slipped by one place, eighth to ninth with seven points. Umm Salal (seven points), Al Sailiya (four points) and Al Rayyan (one point) stayed in 10th, 11th and 12th position respectively.

Al Rayyan continued to lose, their sixth defeat, and they are the only team without a victory so far.

In the first match, Al Duhail and Al Sailiya had to be content with a 1-1 draw.

Carlos Strandberg put Al Sailiya ahead in the 46th minute, while substitute Nasser Al Yazidi equalized for Al Duhail in the 82nd minute.

Al Gharafa got back to the winning path by beating Al Markhiya 2-1.

Driss Fettouhi took Al Markhiya ahead by scoring in the 37th minute. Yacine Brahimi scored the equalizer for Al Gharafa in the 56th minute and Ishak Belfodil netted the winner in the 63rd minute off a penalty kick.

The third match saw Umm Salal hold leaders Al Arabi to a 1-1 draw.

Abdulaziz Al Ansari gave Al Arabi the lead in the 40th minute only for Joao Carlos Teixeira to equalize for Umm Salal in the 50th minute.

Then came the thriller between Al Shamal and Al Ahli, which ended in a 2-2 draw when Al Ahli bounced back from being down by two first-half goals.

Mohsen Al Yazidi (sixth minute) and Yacine Bammou (ninth minute) scored for Al Shamal, while Hossein Kanaani (59th minute penalty) and Yazan Al Naimat (89th minute) scored for Al Ahli.

Al Wakrah scored a thrilling 2-1 victory over Al Sadd, riding on the brilliance of Angolan forward Jacinto Dala, who netted The Blue Wave’s both goals (73rd and 88th minutes). Santi Cazorla pulled one back for Al Sadd through a penalty strike in the 86th minute.

Qatar SC managed to pull off a thrilling 1-0 victory over Al Rayyan, with experienced striker Sebastian Soria scoring the all-important goal in the 86th minute.

In terms of scorers, Al Wakrah forward Jacinto Dala continued to top the list with eight goals after his brace against Al Sadd. In second place are four players – Michael Olunga of Al Duhail, Yazan Al Naimat of Al Ahli, Yousef Msakni of Al Arabi and Yacine Brahimi of Al Gharafa (all five goals).