Wakrah left it late to draw with Al Sadd

A late penalty by Mouhcine Moutouali on Sunday evening helped Al Wakrah snatch a point against former Qatar Stars League (QSL) champions Al Sadd. Al Wakrah, trailed to a  by a goal following a strike by Al Sadd midfielder Jugurtha Hamroun, but eventually drew level with a penalty on the 90th minute, which was dispatched by Moutouali. 

In the 6th minute, Al Wakrah's Hamood Al-Yazidi broke free off his marker and charged into the Al Sadd box in what the first serious attempt at either goal. In a hurried attempt at Al Sadd goal, Al-Yazidi fired a bullet towards the net but Sadd goalkeeper Saad Al-Dosari punched the ball away.

Playing in all-white, Al Sadd looked tad edgy with hosts Al Wakrah mounting attacks on the former QSL champions in the first 10 minutes of the round 7 clash at Al Wakrah Stadium. However the momentum swung towards Al Sadd soon afterwards.

In the 15th minute, Al Sadd's defender  Pedro Correia charged into Al Wakrah box from the the flank before slipping in a neat ball to Baghdad Bounedjah. Stationed inside Al Wakrah box, the 24-year-old Algerian deflected the ball over the crossbar with home goalkeeper Mohmad Enyas well beaten.

Two minutes later, Al Sadd’s number three  Abdulkareem Hassan showed brilliant pace to beat his marker and charged into the Al Wakrah box. Once in the box, Hassan - the Qatar Under-23 team captain - fired a powerful shot that was well pouched by goalkeeper Enyas.

Al Sadd where the dominate side in the first half, and could have headed into the break in the lead had Bagdad Bounedjah’s well-taken free-kick not shot sailed over the Al Wakrah crossbar at the end of the half. The first half ended honours even at 0-0. 

At the half-hour mark, Al Sadd drew first blood. Jugurtha fired home from close range after a loose ball dropped dead in front of him following a goal-line melee after an indirect free-kick. It was Jugurtha's second goal of the season that came at the right time for Al Sadd.

Despite dominating the game, Al Sadd handed Al Wakrah a lifeline in the final minutes of the tie, conceding a penalty. Moroccan striker Mouhcine Moutouali stepped up for his side. Moutaouali held his nerve and chose to go left of Al-Dosari as Al Wakrah  and new coach  Kais Yâakoubi snatched a point in the dying moments of the game leaving a forlorn looking Al Sadd coach Ferreira with hands on his hips.



Jaish brush past Al Shahania

El Jaish took on Al Shahania in round seven of the QSL at the Lekhwiya stadium on Sunday. The match ended 3-1 in favour of El Jaish as Romarinho’s brace proved to be the difference between the two sides.

 The soldiers stamped their authority with their first goal courtesy of their Brazilian sensation Romarinho. The striker won a free kick outside the box, the resulting strik from Romarinho saw the ball sail over the wall into the top left corner of the goal to give Jaish an early lead. 

Then towards the end of the first half, Sabri Lamouchi’s side doubled their lead minute. Murrad Naji's spectacular long-range strike swerved in the air before finding the back of the net. El Jaish controlled most of the first half and Al Shahaniya had a couple of chances but did little to trouble Saoud Al Khater in the El Jaish Goal.

 The second half was much more positive for Al Shahania as they pushed forward looking to get some goals. They were rewarded for their efforts when in the fifty-fourth minute Mohamed Tiaiba won a penalty for Shahania after he was fouled by Abdurahman Abubakar in the box. Tiaiba then stepped up to take the penalty and his effort was saved by El Jaish’s keeper, Saoud Mubarrak. However, the ball ricochet off the keeper back into the path of Tiaiba who scored at the second time of asking.

 Later on, in the eightieth minute, El Jaish won a penalty of their own after Romarinho was brought down by Alvaro Meijia. The Brazilian then scored his second of the night after converting from the spot slotting the ball to the right as the keeper went the wrong way.

The visitors  received their second penalty of the night in the eighty-seventh minute after Abdulrahman Issa gave away the spotkick.  However the Oryxes could not capitalise as Fahad Khalfan sent the ball over the bar to keep the score at 3-1. The result leaves El Jaish sitting at the top of the QSL standings with seven games played.