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<p>Al Sailiya held Al Rayyan to a 1-1 draw in Week 1 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Thursday.</p><p>Mohanad Ali (28th minute) scored for Al Sailiya, while Dame Traore (52nd minute) was Al Rayyan’s scorer.</p><p>Possession was even and Al Rayyan would rue the two dropped points in their bid to regain the league shield. The Lions had finished runners-up and even outplayed Al Sadd who could end up third in the 2019-20 QNB Stars League.</p><p>Al Rayyan, coached by Uruguayan Diego Aguirre, lagged behind champions Al Duhail (52 points) only by one point in the final standings.</p><p>As far as Al Sailiya are concerned, they are a determined lot this time around, as they could finish only in the fifth position last season, a below-par performance compared to their third-place finish in the 2018-19 season, which was their best-ever in history.</p><p>As a result, there are many new faces in their squad and the team’s long-standing Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi had said ahead of the start of the season that they were competing for top positions, if not for the title, this season.</p><p>Al Rayyan’s best chance in the first half went to Abdulaziz Hazza in the 16th minute, but his shot was saved by Al Sailiya’s much-experienced goalkeeper Amine Lecomte.</p><p>Mohanad, who has previously plied his trade in Al Duhail, took Al Sailiya ahead by slotting home a pass from Tiago Bezerra, who switched to The Peregrines this season from Al Khor.</p><p>Al Rayyan were not to be denied as they found the equaliser not long after the resumption. Traore was on target with a bicycle kick when the ball rebounded off the horizontal following a Yacine Brahimi corner kick.</p>