Al Sailiya finally secured a win when they defeated Al Shamal 2-1 at the Saoud Abdulrahman stadium this evening.

Sailiya had gone five matches without a win with their previous match resulting in a 2-1 loss to El Jaish. And with Shamal still searching for their first win in the Qatar Stars League this season, it was a great chance as they faced fellow struggles Al Sailiya.

During the pre-match press conference Shamal coach Dragan Cvetković had said that he was considering changing his team’s strategy and look to score the opening goal instead of waiting for to attack on the counter. And indeed that is what Al Shamal did as in the opening stages they had some good goal scoring opportunities.

They were rewarded for their efforts when Sailiya conceded a penalty in the 17^th minute. But despite getting a great chance to take the lead, Shamal’s Said Boutahar missed his penalty. A miss that would cost his side dear.

Three minutes later, they conceded a penalty and Sailiya’s Fawzi Mubarak Ayiesh didn’t make any mistake from the spot. Shamal lost the early momentum and started chasing the game from then, a familiar trend that has plagued the team from the North all season.

In the last couple of matches Shamal have shown quite a bit of improvement but this evening Al Sailiya stepped up their game and showed some of last season’s form. In the second half, Shamal looked to create chances but it was Sailiya who scored again in the 56^th minute through Abdulrahman al‐Harazi. The ball came off Shamal keeper Chihab Salh Eddine, who could have done better.

To Shamal’s credit they didn’t give up after this goal and were still looking to score. They reduced the deficit in the 74^th minute through their skipper Degano.  But that’s where their fight back ended as they couldn’t find the back of the net after that. 

Sailiya ended up with 53 per cent possession but more importantly were able to convert their chances and took all three points. 

Sadly for Al Shamal they have moved one step closer to potential relegation.