Lekhwiya edge Al Kharaitiyat 2-1

Four time QSL champions Lekhwiya left it late to secure a 2-1 win over bottom of the table Al Kharaitiyat on Monday evening. Djamel Belmadi’s side came from a goal behind  and dominated throughout to register their eighth win of the season thanks to goals from Yusef Msakni and a Yusef El Arabi penalty. 
 

Lekhwiya welcomed back Yusef Msakni back to the starting line up after a injury, the Tunisian international hit a shot from a tight angle to test Ahmed Soufiane on the fifth minute, it proved to be a signal of intent from the Red Knights. 
 

Lekhwiya looked more and more likely to find the opener as the tie progressed. Al Kharaitiyat had the woodwork and reactions of Ahmed Soufiane to thank on the 30th minute. Lekhwiya put together a slick passing move which resulted in a good save from Soufiane to deny Luiz Martin the opener. Whilst seconds later a cross fell to Ismael Mohammed who saw hit shot rattle the woodwork.

Al Kharaitiyat registered their only chance of the first half on the 37th minute. On a rare foray forward Brazilian defender Domingos headed just wide from a Anouar Diba free-kick. 
 

In first half injury time Lekhwiya were denied again thanks to a strong save by Soufiane who was fast becoming Al Kharaitiyat’s best player. A cross by Ismael Mohammed found the head of Yusef El Arabi and his header looked destined for the bottom left hand corner, however the Moroccan was denied again by the Qatari keeper who pulled off another fine save. The first half ended honours even at 0-0. 
 

Al Kharaitiyat made a dream start to the second half, after being rewarded a penalty two minutes after the restart. Lekhwiya striker Yusef El Arabi was adjudged to have handed the ball and the referee promptly pointed to the penalty spot. Thunders number ten Anouar Diba stepped up and placed the ball into the right hand corner to give Ahmad Al-Ajlani’s side the most unlikely of leads. 
 

Lekhwiya pushed hard to find a leveller and eventually broke the Al Kharitiyat resistance on the 57th minute. Khaled Muftah swung in a accurate cross which found Yusef Msakni who headed the ball in from close range. 
 

Predictably the tie swung in the favour on the four time QSL champions Lekhiwya as the referee awarded his second penalty of the match with ten minutes left to play. Yusef El Arabi stepped up to dispatch the penalty, which went in off keeper Ahmed Soufiane to score his thirteenth goal of the season. 
 

 

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Al Arabi come from behind to beat Al Khor 2-1

 

Visitors Al Khor grabbed the lead on Monday but home side Al Arabi turned around things in admirable fashion, winning the Qatar Stars League (QSL) clash 2-1 at Grand Hamad Stadium.

Al Arabi's captain Boualem Khoukhi and Wagner scored the goals in the first first half to nullify Al Khor’s early lead in the round eleven clash. 

 

Al Khor grabbed the lead through a field goal in the 7th minute through a well-coordinated move as defender Sultan Al Enazi deflected an easy ball into the net from close range. Al Khor defender Abdulrahman Ruban - on the right flank - chipped in a long ball towards teammate Abdulkarem Ali who failed to deflect the ball into the net as the running momentum forced him to lose his balance.

 

However, Al Khor's man of the moment Al Enazi - who was unmarked inside the box - punched the ball into the net with consummate ease, easily beating the out-stretched hands of goalkeeper Rajab Kassim. It was Al Enazi's second goal of the season for the Knights.

 

 

At the half-hour mark, Al Arabi's Assie Koua Vivien - the tall defender from Ivory Coast - produced a snap-header inside the Al Khor box but his deflection was pouched by goalkeeper Baba Djibril on his goal-line.Minutes later, Al Arabi's Nigerian forward Ezekiel easily volleyed a close-range ball into the net but the goal was disallowed as off-side by the linesman.

 

In the 37th minute, Khoukhi opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Al Khor’s goalscorer Sultan Al Enazi brought down Al Arabi's Paulinho inside his own box with a reckless tackle. Referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim quickly pointed to the spot kick and Khoukhi easily converted from the penalty spot for the equaliser. 

 

With four minutes to go in the first half, Al Arabi grabbed the lead with a slick finish by Wagner - smashed the ball in from close range hitting the top of the net with a fast-paced shot. It was the former El Jaish’s man first goal of the season.

 

Despite conceding the first goal, hosts Al Arabi rallied in fine style, maintaining an impressive 66-34 percentage of ball possession in the first 70 minutes of play, to register their second straight win in the QSL.