Curtains came down on the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 14 action, held on February 24 and 25, 2024, with three of the six matches ending in victories.

The summit clash between leaders Al Sadd and second-placed Al Wakrah ended in a goalless draw and Al Sadd remained on top with 32 points and Al Wakrah second with 28 points. Al Ahli came from behind to score a thrilling 2-1 victory over Al Gharafa, leaving the latter on 27 points and in third place. Al Ahli moved from ninth to eighth position with 15 points.

Al Rayyan succeeded in achieving a 2-1 victory over Al Shamal to reach 25 points and stayed in fourth place. Al Shamal stood 10th with 11 points. Al Duhail and Al Arabi shared the points following a 2-2 draw and Al Arabi remained in fifth place with 18 points on better goal difference than Al Duhail, who also have the same number of points.

Umm Salal played out an exciting 0-0 draw with Qatar SC and maintained the seventh place with 16 points. Qatar SC slipped from eighth to ninth with 13 points.

Muaither remained in 11th place with nine points after defeating Al Markhiya 2-0 and the latter stayed at the bottom with four points.

RESULTS

Qatar SC drew Umm Salal        1-1

Al Gharafa lost to Al Ahli 1-2

Al Markhiya lost to Muaither    0-2

Al Wakrah drew Al Sadd 0-0

Al Duhail drew Al Arabi   2-2

Al Rayyan bt Al Shamal   2-1

Week 14 witnessed 14 goals, with an average of 2.3 goals per match.

The largest number of goals came in the match between Al Duhail and Al Arabi (four) and the biggest victory margin was Muaither beating Al Markhiya (2-0). Al Sadd, Al Wakrah and Muaither emerged with clean sheets.

The round witnessed three red cards – Al Gharafa defender Seydou Sano, Al Wakrah goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater and Al Arabi’s Hassan Alaa Aldeen in addition to 22 yellow cards.

On the competition front, Qatar SC and Umm Salal played out a 1-1 draw, with both goals coming in the first half. Umm Salal’s Lucas Joao found the net in the fifth minute before Yousef Mohammed Ali equalised for The Kings in the seventh minute. They had played out a 2-2 draw in the first leg.

Al Ahli overcame a deficit to beat Al Gharafa 2-1 with late goals. Ahmed Alaaeldin scored for Al Gharafa in (45+4) minute. Julian Draxler scored for Al Ahli (90+2) minute and Idrissa Doumbia struck the winner in (90+11) minute. Al Gharafa were shocked after Senegalese Sano was sent off after referring to the VAR technology for tackling Yazan Al Naimat in the 21st minute.

Muaither achieved a valuable 2-0 victory over Al Markhiya in the clash between bottom-placed teams. Tiago de Leonco scored the opening goal for Muaither in the 16th minute and they benefited from an own goal from Ruben Semedo in the 55th minute. Al Markhiya had a chance to equalize when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 21st minute, but Driss Fettouhi missed it, to add to their woes.

In the most exciting match, Al Wakrah and Al Sadd were tied 0-0. Al Wakrah goalkeeper Al Khater was sent off for obstructing Al Sadd’s Akram Afif, who also missed a penalty kick for Al Sadd, and both teams had to be content with a draw.

Al Arabi and Al Duhail also played out a thrilling draw (2-2). The first half ended goalless and Al Duhail pressed hard in the second half and were rewarded by goals from Ibrahima Diallo (64th minute) and Almoez Ali (69th minute).

However, despite being reduced to 10 men at the stroke of regular time in the first half when Hassan Alaa Aldeen received marching orders for a tackle on Kim Moon-Hwan, Al Arabi struck back through goals from Ahmed Fathi (84th minute) and Omar Al Somah (88th minute penalty) to force a draw.

Al Rayyan achieved an exciting 2-1 victory over Al Shamal. After a goalless first half, The Lions went 2-0 up through Gabriel Pereira (66th minute) and Roger Guedes (71st minute). Al Shamal pulled one back through Mohsen Al Yazidi (90+7 minute).