Qatar SC and Umm Salal played out a 1-1 draw in Week 14 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium of Qatar SC on Saturday.

The fast-paced match, the first since the resumption of league after the AFC Asian Cup break, recorded two goals within the first seven minutes of play, with Umm Salal’s Lucas Joao finding the net in the fifth minute before Yousef Mohammed Ali equalised for The Kings in the seventh minute.

With the result, Qatar SC now have 13 points, while Umm Salal moved on to 16 points.

Joao’s goal came off a set piece by Oussama Tannane, with the Angolan international’s powerful header finding the left-hand corner of goalkeeper Sataa Al Abbasi’s net. 

Undaunted by the early goal, Qatar SC went right into attack mode on resumption of play and their efforts were immediately rewarded when Yousef drilled in a powerful right-footed shot from inside the 18-yard box, which caught Umm Salal’s goalkeeper Landing Badji napping as his outstretched arm could do nothing to prevent the goal bound shot.

With parity restored, the game became more balanced as both sides weighed their chances. The two teams were guilty of profligacy in front of goals in the first half as they squandered other opportunities that came their way to end the half with the scoreline unchanged.

The second half began from where the first ended, with both sides playing a cautious game. Unlike the first half, the chances were few and far in between, especially in the early minutes of resumption.

In an attempt to sharpen their attack and take the maximum  points, substitutions were made on both sides. For Umm Salal, Elyas Brimil came in to replace Abdallah Khaled Sheikh, while Khaled Mansour went in for Adel Al Sulimane. Goal scorer Joao was also substituted for Meshal Al Shammari in the 61st minute.

Qatar SC, on the other hand, threw in Congolese Ben Malango in place of captain Sebastian Soria and Jassim Ahmad was substituted for Ali Awad.

Despite the substitutions, there was no major change on the field as both sides seemed to lack the ‘magic’needed to further unlock each other’s defences.
Bruno Tabata, who joined the action in the 75th minute after replacing goal scorer Yousef, could have given Qatar SC the winner in the third minute of injury time, but his low, powerful shot went a few inches wide to the right of goalkeeper Badji.

Tabata’s attempt was the last major event of the night as the referee blew less than a minute later to end the interesting match.