Sadd squeeze past Gharafa (0-1)

Al Sadd defeated Al Gharafa by a solitary goal at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium. Wolves’ striker Muriqui scored in the 54th minute to give his side another valuable three points.

During the pre-match press conference, Sadd coach Hussein Ammota looked a worried man because six of his players had being called up for Olympic National team duty and with a depleted first team, things would be tough for the Wolves.

However, now he can breathe a sigh of relief as his players pulled out the win, albeit a hard-fought one.

The first half was a scrappy affair with both teams wrestling for possession. Sadd had slightly more of the ball but both teams went into the break failing to score.

The second half was livelier and it started with the Sadd goal. Hassan al-Haydous crossed from the right flank and Gharafa keeper Qasem Burham ran out out to punch the ball away when he should have caught it. 

Burham only ended up pushing the ball towards Muriqui who happily dispatched it to the back of the net. With this goal the Brazilian is now joint-top in the goal scoring charts with El Jaish’s striker Abderrazak Hamdallah. Both men have scored eight goals so far this season.

Gharafa tried hard to find the equaliser but their poor finishing became a constant theme throughout the game.

Gharafa had 14 shots out of which two were on target. Anderson Martins had two of his shots saved by Sadd keeper Muhannad Hussein and Lawrence Quaye went on a marauding run down the middle, he then pierced Sadd’s defence but from just 8 yards out he snatched his shot and the ball went wide. The Wolves on the other hand had eight attempts with two on target. 

Sadd have secured a win after enduring two successive draws. For Gharafa, it’s time to use the break to good advantage and rediscover the form they showed at the start of the season. After a good start which saw three successive wins, they have now not won in the last five matches.



Rayyan salvage win against Al Wakrah (2-1)
Al Rayyan came from a goal down to defeat Al Wakrah 2-1 at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium. The table toppers have been in excellent form since the start of the season but it wasn’t smooth sailing for them as Wakrah took the early lead.

They fell behind in the 28th minute through an own goal. Wakrah’s Sebastian Saez delivered a cross from the left flank which was intended for Mohsine Moutaouali. However Rayyan midfielder Mohamed Juma who was running to block the pass to Moutaouali stretched out his leg and the ball was deflected into his own net.

Rayyan didn’t panic and showed patience, eventually they were once again peppering the Wakrah goal with shots. 

Yet despite the numerous chances, it took a moment of magic from their skipper Rodrigo Tabata to find the equaliser. The goal came from a classy freekick right at the end of the first half, the Brazilian fired in a fierce curling effort into the far corner of the net leaving Wakrah keeper Hassan Idriss stranded. 

The half ended with both teams level but parity didn’t last long. Six minutes into the second half a goalkeeping blunder from Idriss helped Rayyan take the lead.  A Rayyan corner taken quickly saw Hamid Ismael cross the ball into the box. Idriss came out to collect but was lost in the swarm of players in front of him and Nathan Otavio was able to head the ball in. 

Rayyan didn’t slow down after that and kept creating chances. With the game becoming more and more open Wakrah were also dangerous on the counter attack and almost pulled off an equaliser in the 78th minute when Saez on a one on one with Rayyan keeper Oumar Barry but he ended up shooting the ball straight at him instead.  

Rayyan ended up with 23 shots on goal with eight on them on target and largely dominated the game. 

The league leaders stuttered at the start but then got into their stride and claimed their eighth successive victory.