The 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League’s Week 15 action, held on February 20 and 21, was not devoid of excitement despite the postponement of Al Duhail vs Al Rayyan match due to their AFC Champions League 2022 Round of 16 encounter which the former won on penalties and made it to the quarterfinals.
THE RESULTS
Al Gharafa bt Al Shamal 3-2
Al Ahli bt Al Sadd 2-1
Al Markhiya lost to Al Arabi 0-2
Qatar SC drew Al Sailiya 1-1
Umm Salal drew Al Wakrah 0-0
A total of 12 goals were scored with an average of 2.4 goals per match and the Al Gharafa vs Al Shamal game was the highest-scoring (five goals). Al Arabi, Umm Salal and Al Wakrah teams kept clean sheets.
The round witnessed three penalties. While Al Arabi’s Yousef Msakni and Al Sailiya’s Sergio Carlos converted from the spot, Umm Salal’s Joao Teixeira missed it.
There were no red cards and the number of yellow cards was 32.
Qatar SC advanced one place from fourth to third with 23 points following the loss of reigning champions Al Sadd, who slipped to fourth place with 22 points, to Al Ahli, who progressed from seventh to sixth place with 20 points. Al Wakrah fell to seventh spot from sixth with 19 points.
Al Sailiya and Umm Salal continued to be in 11th and 12th position respectively, with nine points each.
Al Arabi are considered as one of the most prominent beneficiaries of the round as they kept winning, their third victory in a row, to narrow the difference with leaders Al Duhail to one point. Al Duhail and Al Arabi are now on 32 and 31 points respectively.
Al Duhail’s match against Al Rayyan was postponed due to their AFC Champions League match and Al Arabi also benefited after their competitors Al Sadd and Qatar SC dropped points.
In the first match, Al Gharafa and Al Shamal, who both came off defeats, fought hard and the former had the last laugh with a 3-2 margin. Ahmed Alaaeldin shone for The Cheetahs with two goals.
Al Gharafa raised their tally to 22 points, the same as Al Sadd but were placed behind (fifth) on goal difference, while Al Shamal stood in 10th place with 10 points.
Al Ahli fought back from a goal down to snatch a valuable victory at the expense of Al Sadd, thanks to a double from Oumar Sekou.
Al Arabi succeeded in making their fans happy again through an important victory over a determined Al Markhiya with a 2-0 margin, with goals from substitute Rami Suhail and Msakni (penalty).
In the fourth match, Al Sailiya managed to collect a valuable point by holding Qatar SC to a 1-1 draw.
Although Qatar SC advanced through Nasir Peer’s goal in the fifth minute of first-half injury time, Sergio Carlos Strandberg equalized for The Peregrines by converting a penalty in the 78th minute.
Qatar SC and Al Sailiya (11th position) now have 23 and nine points respectively.
The last game saw Umm Salal and Al Wakrah fight it out, but play out a goalless draw.
Umm Salal remained at the bottom of the table with nine points and Al Wakrah moved on to 19 points.
List of scorers
Al Duhail’s Kenyan striker Michael Olunga continued to lead the scorers’ list with 10 goals, followed by the duo of Omar Al Somah (Al Arabi) and Jacinto Dala (Al Wakrah) with nine goals each. Al Rayyan striker Yohan Boli and Al Arabi forward Yousef Msakni are on eight goals each.
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