Al Sailiya stun Al Gharafa 2-1

Al Sailiya stunned inform Al Gharafa with a 2-1 win at Al Ahli stadium on Sunday in round eleven of the QSL. Al Gharafa’s eight-game unbeaten run came to an end as Sami Trabelsi’s men scored two first half goals and only allowed Al Gharafa once in the second half. 

 Al Sailiya scored the first goal of the game early on as they took the lead in the eighth minute. The returning Bahrain international Faouzi Aaish chested down a long ball inside the box and then took it past two defenders before taking the ball past the keeper and scoring a goal on his return from injury. The Bahraini international with his first goal of the season to make it 1-0 for the Peregrines.

Al Sailiya doubled their advantage in the thirty-sixth minute with a wonderfully worked goal. The goal came after a brilliant bit of interplay between the Sailiya forwards. Faouzi Aaish sent a cross over to Sayaf Mohsin, who headed it towards Mohamed Mudather who leaped into the air and scored with an improvised shot with his right foot dumbfounding the goalkeeper.

Gharafa pushed on in the second half and switched to a more attacking formation  to reduce the deficit. Abdulghani Munir had two chances to score in the fifty-third minute but both of his efforts were saved by Sailiya keeper, Gregory Gomis.

Pedro Caixinha’s men pulled one back in the sixty-fifth minute with a goal from Vladmir Weiss. Moayed Hassan sent a ball over to the Slovakian international who controlled it and waited for the keeper to make a move before curving the ball into the far corner to make it 2-1.

Gharafa pushed hard for an equalizer, but Sami Trabelsi’s side held on to inflict Al Gharafa’s first defeat in eight QSL games. The win takes Sailiya up to seventh place with twelve points from eleven games. While Pedro Caixinha’s Al Gharafa stay in fourth with twenty points.

Al Rayyan edge out Al Wakrah

Reigning Qatar Stars League champions Al Rayyan on Sunday needed an own goal by Al Wakrah to post a 1-0 win at away from home in a tough QSL encounter for Michael Laudrup’s side. Al Wakrah's Abdulrahman Fakhroo got the dubious distinction of scoring an own goal as Al Rayyan celebrated picking up three points.

Playing their first game after the 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Al Sadd, Al Rayyan - sporting white jerseys and red shorts - stitched together a couple of impressive moves in the opening encounters of the tie.  Veteran striker Sebastian Soria fired a bullet towards the Al Wakrah goal but goalkeeper Mohammed Enyass dived to his right to block the shot.

In a shocking run of play, Al Wakrah conceded an own goal in the 34th minute. Defender Fakhroo, under pressure from Sergio Garcia of Al Rayyan mistakenly tapped the ball into his own net following a corner kick that had sailed above the goalkeeper's head. For the first time in almost two hours on the pitch, Al Rayyan players broke into smiles as coach Michael Laudrup watched from the touchline presenting a somber look.

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Rayyan could have doubled their lead on the 35th minute, Sebastian Soria charged towardsthe goal but defender Mohamed Arafa produced in a well-timed tackle to kill the threatening move inside his own box.

In the 55th minute, Soria again wasted a golden opportunity to score for Al Rayyan. Soria charged into the Al Wakrah box and dribbled past  Wakrah keeper Mohammed Enyass who had darted off from the goal-line.Thankfully Al Wakrah defenders Al Fakroo and Sultan Al-Bareek offered stiff resistance as Soria ran out of gas while trying to flick the ball into an open net.

In the second half Al Wakrah crafted their only chance of note through Pablo Zeballos who attempted a spectacular scissor-kick but his shot missed the goalpost following an indirect free-kick close to the Al Rayyan box. The reiging QSL champions held on to register their first victory in two QSL games, to bolster their top four ambitions.