Al Rayyan beat Qatar SC 2-1 in an expectedly-intense match in Week 11 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium of Qatar SC on Saturday.

Both of Al Rayyan’s goals came in the first half through Roger Guedes (sixth minute) and Mahmoud Trezeguet (42nd minute), while Qatar SC’s consolatory goal came off the boot of Ahmed Abdel Kader in the 64th minute as The Lions further extended their points tally to 13, while The Kings remained on 10.

Qatar SC had the best of chances in the first 10 minutes of the encounter, with coach Youssef Safri’s men having three major attempts within four minutes of play. First, Abdel Kader’s right-footed shot from outside the box was saved in the bottom left corner before Jassim Al Jalabi’s attempt, following a superb over-the-head cross by Ben Malango with a cross, from the centre of the box a few seconds later was blocked.

Al Jalabi’s right-footed shot from the centre of the box less than a minute later was also saved in the centre of the goal.

Knowing the importance of the match and its impacts on the standings between the two gladiators, who were both on 10 points ahead of the game, Al Rayyan began to be more assertive as they began to grow into the game.

It was therefore not surprising that they got their heart’s desire in the sixth minute through Guedes who got the final touch on the ball and nodded home from very close range to the high centre of the goal following a corner kick by Andre Amaro.

Qatar SC got a unique opportunity to restore parity three minutes later when a blunder by Al Rayyan goalkeeper Fahad Younes gave the hosts the opportunity to power home, but the Qatari goalkeeper recovered quickly to make some repeated stunning saves to preserve the integrity of their lead.

Raoul Sanda had another opportunity at levelling things up for Qatar SC in the 33rd minute when faced with a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Younes, but the Cameroonian instead shot straight at the onrushing goalkeeper’s leg.

With three minutes left in the regulation time of first half, Trezeguet doubled the lead for Al Rayyan with a stunning right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner from a cross by Murad Naji.

After some other near misses, Qatar SC finally got on the scoresheet through Abdel Kader in the 64th minute, whose seemingly harmless right-footed shot from the centre of the box was, however, well placed enough to locate the bottom right corner of Al Rayyan goal. The assist came from Sanda, who had hitherto been guilty of wasting many opportunities.

Despite Qatar SC’s attempt at adding more to the goal, Al Rayyan’s defence remained unmoved as they defended the lead almost with their last breath to ensure the maximum points for Younes Ali’s side.