The QSL season heads into a three week break for international football, but none the less the second round of games where crammed full of action including dramatic late goals and high scoring encounters. QSL online attempts to make sense of it all in our weekly talking points feature.
Late drama from title contenders
The second round of QSL action saw two important late goals for sides that will be looking to be in the title shake up come the end of May.
El Jaish needed a stoppage winner from substitute attacker Romarinho to defeat a spirited Al Arabi side 4-3. Gerardo Pelusso's side showed plenty of character two battle back from two goals behind to take a 3-2 lead in the match. However Sabri Lamouchi’s side kept their composure and scored two goals in the final five minutes, including an individual strike of real quality from Romarinho to steal the points away from the Dream Team.
Likewise Lekhwiya struck in stoppage time to defeat Al Gharafa 5-4 in a nine goal thriller at Al Gharafa stadium. Nam Tae Hee capped off a fine personal performance with a hat-trick including two goals from direct free kicks.
Jaish & Lekhwiya management will now be hoping to kick on once the QSL resumes on the 14th of October.
What now for Al Rayyan?
QSL champions Al Rayyan dropped their first points of the season with a hard hitting 0-0 draw with Umm Salal on Friday evening. The Lions lacked a cutting edge in the final third and failed to break down the resilient midfield and defense of the Orange Fortress.
On the basis of this performance it seems that for the top sides in the QSL, have figured out how to play against Al Rayyan packing the midfield and defense and looking to take the champions on the break.
The biggest worry for the Rayyan management concerns their former head coach Jorge Fossati. The Uruguayan head coach accepted the call of the Qatar National team to replace José Carreño who was relieved of his duties on Thursday evening.
Al Rayyan will now have to move quickly to find a worthy replacement for the man who gave the Lions their first QSL falcon shield in twenty one years; otherwise their title defense could end in a whimper.
Muaither could rue missed chances
Al Shahania ran out narrow 1-0 winners in the battle of the newly promoted sides on Thursday evening. Fathi Al Jabal’s side struck in the first half and held out to the final whistle, in what could be a vital three points come the end of the season.
The biggest concern for Muaither will be how they dominated possession and had the majority of the major chances, yet failed to find the back of the net. Jordanian attacker Mahmoud Za'tara was guilty of missing three guilt edged opportunities in the tie and will need to find his scoring touch quickly, if the stallions are to stay in the QSL.
Head coach Phillipe Birol will now prepare his squad in the international break ahead of their third round QSL match against another side yet to pick up any points in Al Gharafa.
Back To Home
