Al Sailiya defeated Al Rayyan 2-0 in Week 12 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday.

An own goal by Al Rayyan’s Shojae Khalilzadeh in the sixth minute and a slick penalty conversion by Brazilian forward Tiago Bezerra in the 16th minute powered Al Sailiya to their fourth win of the season.

Al Sailiya now have 15 points, while Al Rayyan remained on 16 points following their fourth defeat. It was the second loss in three matches for new Al Rayyan coach Laurent Blanc.

An unexpected error by Khalilzadeh handed Al Sailiya an early surprise lead in the hard-fought match. In an attempt to push the ball away from Tiago, Iranian centre-back Khalilzadeh lunged forward to flick the ball away, but ended up shooting into his own net.

Bezerra soon made it 2-0 for Al Sailiya with a penalty kick. Dami Traori brought down Tiago with a push inside his own box. Referee Meshari Al Shammari, after getting the foul reviewed on VAR, pointed to the spot kick. Tiago chose to go left of keeper Fahad Younis for his side’s second goal.

With a 2-0 cushion, Al Sailiya showed even greater urgency in their attacks. Close to the half-hour mark, Mohanad Ali (Mimi) ran on the box line with Al Rayyan’s Gabriel Mercado chasing him. Mimi quickly fired a shot that slipped past the goalpost to the right of the goalkeeper. 

Al Rayyan created a bit of similar flutter among the backline players of Al Sailiya when Abdelaziz Hatem curled in a long-range free-kick that was deflected by Mercado from close range. But Al Sailiya keeper Claude Amine slipped in a dive to stop the ball in the 34th minute. 

With Al Sailiya building good momentum in the first 10 minutes of second half, Tiago found the net for the second time in the match, but the linesman was quick to wave the off-side flag. 

Moments later, Al Rayyan substitute Abdulrahman Al Korbi was penalised with a yellow card for bringing down Tiago with a rough sliding tackle.

A spectacular right-handed airborne diving stop by Amine – off a direct free-kick by Ramin Rezaien – stopped Al Sailiya from scoring their third goal in 61st minute.

Al Rayyan’s Abdelaziz Hatem raised hopes of a goal from inside the box in the 75th minute, but his swinging shot came in touching distance of the Al Sailiya crossbar.