Al Duhail consolidated their lead in the standings after defeating Umm Salal 2-1 in Week 14 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Grand Hamad Stadium of Al Arabi club on Friday.

The Red Knights scored on either side of half-time, with Ismail Mohammed (39th minute) and Abdullah Al Ahrak (89th minute) scoring for the winners after Oussama Tannane had given The Orange Fortress the lead in the 36th minute.

Al Duhail have now advanced to 32 points from 10 wins, two losses and two draws, while Umm Salal remained on 14 points.

Al Duhail had the first clear-cut chance of the encounter in the seventh minute with Almoez Ali connecting perfectly with a cross from Edmilson Junior following a corner kick, but the forward’s header from the centre of the box went a bit high and wide to the left. Four minutes later, the Qatar international again rattled the bar with a right-footed shot from the right side of the six-yard box from an inch-perfect cross by Homam Al Ameen.

Umm Salal continued to soak up the pressure from the away team while breaking forward occasionally, and they could have gotten the opener in the 31st minute had Marouan Louadni been more precise with his header that came from an assist by Tannane following a corner kick.

Five minutes later, it was Tannane’s name that came on the lips of every Umm Salal fan as the Moroccan international opened the scoring in the exciting match after firing home a thunderbolt of a shot from 25 yards out that stunned not just the goalkeeper Salah Zakaria but the entire field.

Jolted by the turn of events, Al Duhail went in search of an immediate remedy and they got their desires three minutes later when an unmarked Ismail Mohammed connected well with a diagonal cross by Homam to tap into an almost empty net to make things even between the two sides going into the dugout.

A more determined Al Duhail came out of the dugout for the concluding half of the match and their pressure on Umm Salal went a notch up. Still, despite their several voyages into the opponent box, the resistance from Umm Salal’s defence stood rock-solid. At the same time, goalkeeper Louay Ashour was also outstanding, making several commendable saves to the frustration of their opponents.

Just while the match was heading for a stalemate, Al Ahrak stepped up one minute into stoppage time with his right-footed shot from the centre of the box that sailed straight into the top right-hand corner of Umm Salal’s goal to ensure maximum points for the league leaders.