Brazilian star Philippe Coutinho led the charge as defending champions Al Duhail scored a 2-1 win over Al Markhiya in Week 5 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.

Their third win in the league saw The Red Knights leapfrog their way up with a total of 10 points, while Al Markhiya were left searching for their first win and have yet to score a point.

Al Duhail went up in the 16th minute when their attacking midfielder Coutinho, making his debut in Qatar, was brought down inside the ‘D’ by three defenders resulting in a penalty which was successfully converted by Michael Olunga.

This action was later followed in the match by two superb set-piece kicks – first from Driss Fettouhi of Al Markhiya in the 24th minute and later a match-winning one by Coutinho in the 45+3 minute.

Al Duhail held on through the lead in the second session while missing some chances and staving off Al Markhiya’s attacks.

But the fans savoured the free-kicks which were a real delight. After Al Markhiya’s Ali Said won a free-kick following a foul by Al Duhail’s Ibrahima Bamba, Fettouhi stepped up for the shot. Set about 15 yards from the centre of the box, it was not an easy task, but Fettouhi ran up in angle to make a left-footed kick which flew over the Al Duhail wall and curled into the top right corner of the goal.

The scores-levelling delight, however, did not last long for Al Markhiya as Al Duhail hit back just before half-time.

As luck would have it, a foul by Fettouhi against Coutinho saw the referee award the free-kick to Al Duhail. It was from five yards outside to the left of the box and Coutinho, who took the kick, sent it over a four-man wall and curling beautifully into the left corner of the goal. The goal thrilled the fans who threw themselves in delight at the stadium.

Al Duhail could have well added another goal early in the second half (49th minute), but Almoez’s header from the left side of the six-yard box went too high. Almoez was assisted by Yousef Ayman with a bouncing ball following a corner.

Al Markhiya too came close to scoring, but their attempts were foiled. In the 52nd minute, Abdelghani Laallam’s header from the centre of the box missed to the right and, a minute later, Rochinha’s shot was saved in the centre of the goal.

The final minutes of the match saw frenetic action and Al Markhiya’s attempts to equalize could not bear fruit.