Second placed Al Sadd lost their first game of the QSL season losing 2-1 to league leaders Lekhwiya in a closely fought QSL encounter on Friday evening at Al Sadd stadium. Lekhwiya captain Mohammed Musa scored the winner with two minutes left to play in the game. Prior to this both sides canceled each other out with Nam Tae Hee and Ali Afif scoring for Lekhwiya and Al Sadd, whilst midfielder Luis Martin was sent off on the 85th minute. 

The game started at a brake neck pace and seven minutes in a free kick from Xavi was whipped into the box, the ball fell to Abdulkarim Hassan and his powerful shot was well saved by  Lekhwiya keeper Claude Amine. As expected the tie was a tight affair, with plenty of crunching tackles in midfield as both sides looked to assert themselves in the early exchanges. 

Lekhwiya took the lead thanks entirely to the hard running of young attacker Moez Ali. Chasing a forward ball, the Qatar youth international showed an impressive turn of pace to beat Sadd defender Morteza Pouraliganji drive into the penalty area and pick out Nam Tae Hee who calmly slotted in the opening goal of the tie on the seventeenth minute. 

Al Sadd rallied after the goal and began to enjoy more possession as the half progressed. On the twenty sixth minute of the tie, Jesaldo Ferriera’s side drew level thanks to midfielder Ali Asad. Xavi curled in a ball high into box which was not dealt with by the Lekhwiya defence, in the ensuring scramble the ball fell to Asad who smashed the ball home from close range. 

Five minutes left in the first half and Ali Asad missed a vital chance to double his tally and give Al Sadd a lead heading into the half time break. Whilst on the counter attack, the ball fell perfectly to the Qatar international with the goal at his mercy who promptly smashed his shot well over the bar much to the frustration of his team-mates. Both sides went in level with the scoreline at 1-1. 

The home side started the second half on the front foot. On the 53rd minute Sadd came closest to taking a lead when a free-kick from Xavi was headed off the line by compatriot Chico Flores as Sadd upped the pressure on their table topping rivals. Likewise Lekhwiya looked to break the deadlock when Ismael Mohammed held the ball up well and passed to Karim Boudiaf however the midfielder’s shot etched just wide.

As the second half progressed both sides seem to cancel each other out in both defence and attack, not before both sides exchanged a number of chances. LekwiAli Afif pass found Nam Tae at the edge of the box however his effort flew over the bar. Ferriera gambled on the 70th minute of the tie, introducing Sami Kasola and young striker Meshaal Al-Shammeri into the match looking to swing the tie in favour of Al Sadd. 

Lekhwiya keeper Claude Lacome was called upon to deny Xavi again, with the Qatar international  stopper producing a good save to tip over the Spaniards freekick. Up at the other end of the pitch and Lekhwiya midfielder Ali Afif  saw his shot fly just wide. Lekhwiya where also reduced to ten men on the 85th minute when midfielder Luis Martin was shown his second yellow card for a rash challenge. The game was opening up to set up a grandstand finish. 

With 88 minutes on the clock, the ten men of Lekhwiya scored a winner through captain Mohammed Musa. Nam Tae Hee knocked in a corner, which landed on the the head of Chico Flores which fell to the back post. Musa was on the quickest to react and duly planted the ball into the back of the net, much to the joy of coach Djamel Belmadi. The win means that Lekhwiya maintain their undefeated streak in the league, and now have opened up a five point gap at the top of the QSL standings.