Yacine Brahimi continued to exhibit his brilliance with a double as Al Rayyan blanked Al Sailiya 2-0 in Week 9 of the 2019-20 QNB Stars League at the Al Ahli Stadium on Thursday.

Brahimi’s both goals (seventh and 90+3 minutes) had individual brilliance written all over them. The attacking midfielder, who represented top Portuguese side Porto and the Algerian national team for long, is proving a worthy addition ever since he joined Al Rayyan at the start of this season.  

Al Rayyan raised their points tally to 21, while Al Sailiya remained on 11.

It was also The Lions’ sixth straight victory. They thus made up for their sedate start to the tournament and stay as strong title-contending side.

Al Rayyan and Al Sailiya had precisely equal share of ball possession in terms of percentage. Al Sailiya even matched their more famous rivals ball for ball, but it was Al Rayyan who created more opportunities.

Brahimi scored his first goal after latching on to a through pass by Khaled Muftah and evading the tackle of Mostafa Abdelhamid. He scored for a second time off a deflection off a rival player.

Al Rayyan had almost doubled the lead in the 13th minute, but for Al Sailiya goalkeeper Khalifa Aboobacker tipping the ball over the bar after Rodrigo Tabata fired a free-kick.

Tabata was later replaced by Sebastian Soria.

Iranian striker Karim Ansari was Al Sailiya’s spearhead. He had a header go over the bar in the 29th minute. Overall, The Peregrines’ attacks lacked bite.

Al Sailiya appealed for a penalty towards the end after Al Rayyan defender Dami Traore brought down Ansari inside the box, but referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim decided against it in consultation with VAR.