Al Rayyan served further notice of their title credentials as they came from a goal down to defeat a tough Al Kharaitiyat 2-1 at the Al Khor stadium tonight.

The first half was an even affair as Kharaitiyat proved to be tougher opponents than Sailiya who Rayyan had swept aside 4-0 the week before.

It was Kharaitiyat who scored within two minutes of the restart to shock the large number of Rayyan fans present at the stadium. Rayyan were muscled off the ball in the centre of the park and Thunders midfielder Abdallah Albattat provided an inch-perfect pass into the six-yard box for new signing Jaralla al-Marri to calmly slot into the far right corner. The player’s celebrations were relatively muted as he scored against his old club.

This goal awakened Rayyan and cheered on by their fans, they started making more inroads into the Kharaitiyat half. But it took till the 63^rd minute for the Lions to find the equaliser.

Brazilian defender Nathan Otavio latched onto the end of a great curling cross from midfielder Parou Sadeeqi to score Rayyan’s first goal. A header from close range.

Just six minutes later, Rayyan scored what turned out to be the winning goal of the match. Victor Caceres received a scuffed shot from skipper Rodrigo Tabata and the Paraguayan striker didn’t make a mistake as he passed it into the back of the net. This was his second goal in as many matches.

With the Rayyan fans now getting vocal, their team was able to close out the match comfortably and record their second win this campaign.

This victorywill be even sweeter because it came against a team that is known for its grittiness since new Head Coach Amar Osim took over last season. Although it’s early days, this win also takes them to the top of the table. An intriguing season awaits!