Al Duhail managed to finish on top of the standings despite being held 1-1 by an improved Al Sailiya as the QNB Stars League’s first phase came to an end with last week’s action.

Djamel Belmadi’s Al Duhail stayed unbeaten in the process, the only other time they dropped points being when they drew with Al Gharafa in Week 6. The Red Knights are on 29 points, while Al Sailiya remained in the fourth position with 19.

Sami Trabelsi’s wards came up with a far better showing to put behind their consecutive losses, to Al Khor and Al Ahli. 

Al Duhail’s Moroccan striker Youssef El Arabi topped the scorer’s chart with 16 goals after he scored against Al Sailiya. His captain Youssef Msakni is second on nine goals, followed by Al Rayyan’s Abderrazaq Hamdallah (eight).

Week 11 saw three draws, all by an identical 1-1 margin, and 15 goals being scored compared to 22 in the previous round.

Al Sadd regained the second spot with 27 points following a convincing 4-0 victory over Al Kharaitiyat, who suffered their second successive defeat. The Wolves did not have to sweat much despite missing ace striker Baghdad Bounedjah through an injury.

Al Sadd thus made their title intentions clear by registering their ninth victory, the same as Al Duhail and one more than Al Rayyan, who slipped to third on 25 points after Al Ahli handed them a shock 2-0 defeat.

Al Rayyan obviously suffered from the absence of their top scorer Hamdallah, who sat out with a thigh muscle injury. Rodrigo Tabata, Sebastian Soria and Mohsine Moutaouali tried hard to make a breakthrough, but could not break the Al Ahli citadel for once.

The Brigadiers, coached by Spaniard Joaquin Caparros, comoleted back-to-back victories following a 2-1 verdict over Al Sailiya. Al Ahli played like a cohesive unit and threw everything at Al Rayyan, who had a few other players (Ahmed Al Saadi, Sultan Al Kuwari and Ziad Ali) too in the injury list.

The upset result (Al Rayyan’s second defeat, the other being at the hands of Al Duhail) helped Al Ahli stay sixth with 14 points, two behind Umm Salal who were held by promoted side Al Markhiya who, however, slipped from 11th to bottom with seven points.

The victory enabled Umm Salal to remain fifth. The one point earned against Al Markhiya would have been a further consolation for The Orange Fortress, who went through a four-match winless run of late.

Al Arabi punched way above their weight to defeat Al Khor, whose famed fighting spirit was not to be seen. The Dream Team, coached by Croat Luka Bonacic, made a giant leap in the table, from bottom to ninth and have nine points. It was their second victory.

In the much-awaited encounter, Qatar SC did well to hold Al Gharafa to continue their resurgence under new coach Abdullah Mubarak. Nevertheless, Qatar SC (eight points) dropped one place to 11th and Al Gharafa (11) stood seventh.