Al Sailiya held Al Rayyan to a 1-1 draw in Week 1 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Thursday.

Mohanad Ali (28th minute) scored for Al Sailiya, while Dame Traore (52nd minute) was Al Rayyan’s scorer.

Possession was even and Al Rayyan would rue the two dropped points in their bid to regain the league shield. The Lions had finished runners-up and even outplayed Al Sadd who could end up third in the 2019-20 QNB Stars League.

Al Rayyan, coached by Uruguayan Diego Aguirre, lagged behind champions Al Duhail (52 points) only by one point in the final standings.

As far as Al Sailiya are concerned, they are a determined lot this time around, as they could finish only in the fifth position last season, a below-par performance compared to their third-place finish in the 2018-19 season, which was their best-ever in history.

As a result, there are many new faces in their squad and the team’s long-standing Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi had said ahead of the start of the season that they were competing for top positions, if not for the title, this season.

Al Rayyan’s best chance in the first half went to Abdulaziz Hazza in the 16th minute, but his shot was saved by Al Sailiya’s much-experienced goalkeeper Amine Lecomte.

Mohanad, who has previously plied his trade in Al Duhail, took Al Sailiya ahead by slotting home a pass from Tiago Bezerra, who switched to The Peregrines this season from Al Khor.

Al Rayyan were not to be denied as they found the equaliser not long after the resumption. Traore was on target with a bicycle kick when the ball rebounded off the horizontal following a Yacine Brahimi corner kick.