Two second-half goals saw Al Duhail get the better of a challenging Al Shahania 2-1 in Week 17 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium of Al Duhail club on Friday.

Michael Olunga (46th minute) and Karim Boudiaf (70th minute) struck for Al Duhail before Pelle van Amersfoort pulled one back for Al Shahania off a penalty kick in the 66th minute.

The hard-fought win took Al Duhail back to the top of leaderboard, though they now hold a slender one-point lead over defending champions Al Sadd. The Red Knights have a tally of 38 points, while Al Shahania remained on 23 points.

Al Duhail survived some late anxious moments as Al Shahania desperately searched for an equalizer. Two crucial fouls inside the danger area were also ruled out as Al Shahania’s winning streak of four games came to an end.

After a goalless opening half, Al Duhail hit the first salvo as Olunga caught a long kick from their goalkeeper Salah Zakaria Hassan halfway to the box, and sprinted to beat Al Shahania’s Marc Martinez and the rival custodian to score.

Al Shahania’s hopes received a shot in the arm when Van Amersfoort seemed to have been pulled down inside the penalty area, and after a VAR check the spot kick was awarded. He made no mistake in scoring to draw parity.

Al Duhail however soon got back the lead as Boudiaf timed his jump perfectly to a corner kick to head the ball into the right side of the goal.

The nine added minutes of stoppage time provided for a lot of goal mouth action at Al Duhail’s end, but Al Shahania failed to find another finish and unlike in their first leg clash which they had won 2-1, they ended up losing this time with a similar margin.

To add to their woes, Al Shahania’s Francesco Antonucci received a red card at the fag end (90+8 minute) of the match.