The matches in Week 12 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League witnessed excitement, rivalry, great competition and strong efforts to obtain points with the aim of improving the teams’ rankings as the second leg started after a break during which the Qatar national team competed in the Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait.

RESULTS

Umm Salal lost to Al Rayyan 2-6

Al Arabi bt Al Shahania 3-1

Al Gharafa bt Al Khor 3-1

Al Ahli bt Al Wakrah 6-3

Al Duhail beat Qatar SC 4-1

Al Sadd beat Al Shamal 1-0

Week 12 witnessed 31 goals scored, with an average of 5.16 goals per match, the highest scoring this season so far, and all teams scored except Al Shamal. Only Al Sadd came out with a clean sheet.

During the round, six victories were achieved and no match ended in a draw. The highest number of goals was scored in the match between Al Ahli and Al Wakrah (nine goals), followed by the match between Umm Salal and Al Rayyan (eight goals). The round witnessed a red card for Al Wakrah defender Alexander Scholz in the match against Al Ahli.

This week also witnessed eight players score two goals each – Al Rayyan’s Roger Guedes and Achraf Bencharki, Al Arabi’s Rodrigo Sanchez, Al Ahli’s Erik Exposito and Omar Sekou, Ayoub Assal of Al Wakrah, and Homam Al Ameen and Almoez Ali of Al Duhail.

The chase for the top spot continued, with four teams achieving victories, namely Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Ahli and Al Gharafa, who remained in their positions from first to fourth respectively. Al Rayyan advanced from eighth to fifth place (on goal difference from Al Shamal who are in sixth place) and Umm Salal dropped to eighth place (on goal difference from Al Wakrah who are in seventh place).

As for the standings, Al Duhail strengthened their lead with 28 points, followed by Al Sadd and Al Ahli in second and third place with 25 points and goal difference in favour of Al Sadd, and Al Gharafa in fourth place with 24 points.

Al Rayyan moved to 16 points in fifth place, Al Shamal in sixth place with 16 points, Al Wakrah and Umm Salal in seventh and eighth place respectively with 14 points, and Al Arabi in ninth place with 13 points.

Then Al Shahania in 10th place with 11 points, Qatar SC in 11th place with 10 points, and Al Khor in twelfth and last place with seven points.

The opener was between Umm Salal and Al Rayyan, where Al Rayyan succeeded in winning 6-2. Al Rayyan’s goals were scored by Roger Guedes (sixth and 78th minutes), Achraf Bencharki (60th and 68th minutes), Tamim Mansour (84th minute) and David Garcia (88th minute), while Umm Salal’s goals were scored by Antonio Mance in the 43rd minute and Oussama Tannane in 45+4 minute.

Spaniard Rodrigo Sanchez steered his team Al Arabi to achieve an exciting victory over Al Shahania with three goals to one. Al Arabi were the first to open the scoring and take the lead through Rodri in the 23rd minute before he added his second goal in the 26th minute. Isaac Lihadji concluded Al Arabi’s hat-trick in the 54th minute before Pelle van Amersfoort scored Al Shahania’s only goal in the 87th minute.

Al Gharafa continued their winning streak by defeating Al Khor 3-1. The goals for The Cheetahs were scored by Algerian Yacine Brahimi in the 33rd minute, Spaniard Joselu in the 43rd minute and Ahmed Al Janahi in 93+3 minute, while Sofiane Hanni scored for Al Khor in the 58th minute.

Al Ahli succeeded in continuing their strong performances by defeating Al Wakrah 6-3. Al Wakrah took the lead through Ayoub Assal in the 11th minute and Al Ahli equalised through Omar Sekou from a penalty kick in the 22nd minute. Julian Draxler added the second goal for Al Ahli in the 36th minute, then Al Wakrah equalised again through Ricardo Gomes in the 47th minute. Al Ahli scored the third goal through Amin Tihi in the 55th minute  and Erik Exposito scored the fourth goal in the 68th minute. Sekou added his second goal and the fifth for Al Ahli in the 71st minute, then Assal reduced the difference by scoring his second and third goals for Al Wakrah in 94+4 minute, before Exposito concluded the goals with his second and sixth goal for Al Ahli in 90+7 minute.

Al Duhail also regained victories in the league by defeating Qatar SC 4-1. Al Duhail’s goals were scored by Homam (11th and 37th minutes) and Almoez Ali (90th and 90+3 minutes), while Qatar SC’s only goal was scored by Yousef Mohammed Ali in 90+6 minute.

Al Sadd concluded the round by achieving a valuable victory with a 1-0 victory over Al Shamal. The first half ended in a goalless draw and Yusuf Abdurizag scored the winning goal for Al Sadd in the 74th minute.