Karim Ansari inflicted a double blow on Al Wakrah as Al Sailiya beat them 3-1 in Week 7 of the 2019-20 QNB Stars League at the Al Ahli Stadium on Saturday.
Ansari scored in the 27th and 55th minutes. Meshaal Al Shammari (69th minute) was the scorer for Al Sailiya as The Peregrines’ points tally swelled to 10. It was the third victory for Tunisian Sami Trabelsi’s men.
Omar Ali scored Al Wakrah’s goal in the 42nd minute as he converted a penalty, awarded after George Kwesi fouled Mohamed Benyettou.
Al Wakrah, coached by Spaniard Marquez Lopez, stood on seven points after crashing to their fourth defeat.
The first half was evenly fought with invariably an equal amount of possession on either side.
Ansari opened the scoring with an angular shot after being fed by Boussoufa Mbark. It was an amazing display of ball control skills by the Iranian striker, who was Al Sailiya’s spearhead.
Ansari soon attempted a similar shot from almost the same spot, but his grounder was dealt with by the rival defence.
Following Al Wakrah's equaliser, Ansari's goal in the 44th minute was disallowed for offside through VAR after he volleyed home a free-kick by Boussoufa.
Al Sailiya’s Serigne Mbodji had a header go inches wide in stoppage time. at the other end, Sanchez Isaias and Ousmane Coulibaly were off-target for Al Wakrah.
The second half started in brisk fashion and Mbodji headed the ball wide for a second time.
Al Sailiya steadily upped their ante and succeeded in finding the target twice more. Ansari was at it again, with Meshaal doing all the hard work on the right.
Meshaal himself then found the mark with a chip shot after holding off Al Wakrah goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater.
Al Wakrah, who earned promotion to the top flight after playing in the Second Division for two seasons, would rue the defensive mistakes.