Al Wakrah players celebrate after scoring a goal against Al Sadd during their QNB Stars League match played at the Al Wakrah Stadium yesterday.
Goals from Mohamed Benyettou (8') and Omar Ali (38') helped Al Wakrah record a shocking 2-1 win against the reigning QNB Stars League (QSL) champions Al Sadd at the Al Wakrah Stadium yesterday.
Yesterday's loss, their fourth in the QSL this season, was a major setback for Al Sadd in their bid to retain the Falcon Shield.
Hassan Al Haydous provided some sort of consolation for Al Sadd with a late strike (85') but that did little to affect the overall result of the round-12 match.
Xavi Hernandez-coached Wolves failed to live up to expectations most of the time during their match against Al Wakrah, who returned to the top League after being demoted last season.
Al Sadd so far have 18 points from 10 matches, 11 behind leaders Al Duhail.
However, Al Sadd have played two matches less than the rest due to their engagements in the 2019 AFC Champions League. They will play Al Arabi on January 6 and Al Khor on 21 before the 13th round action begins on January 23.
Al Wakrah's win yesterday, their fourth in the season, lifted them to the 7th position in the QSL points table with 15 points.
Al Sadd dominated the game with 62 per cent possession and created a number of chances but lacked execution.
Al Wakrah played a smart game. The Blue Wave almost downed the shutter by the end of first half when they were two goals up and resorted to counter-attacks.
Benyettou was their livewire, but much credit should go to goalkeeper Hassan Idriss who weathered a flurry of attacks by Al Sadd, more in the second half.
Nam Tae-Hee, Baghdad Bounedjah, Boualem Khoukhi, Hamed Ismail, Al Haydous, Pedro, Akram Afif all either missed the mark or were thwarted by Idriss.
Benyettou scored off a free-kick taken by Abdulrahman Ahmed, whereas Omar’s goal came as a result of a corner kick and the ball was deflected in by Bounedjah.
All that Al Sadd could do was scoring a late goal.
Adding to The Wolves’ woes, Bounedjah sent a penalty straight to Idriss in the 20th minute. The kick was awarded for a foul on Bounedjah himself by Al Wakrah captain Bruno Uvini.
Spaniard Xavi expressed his disappointment after match and said: "I feel very disappointed. We had to win but failed to make the use of a number of opportunities. We tried to make a stronger approach in the second half but it was difficult to compensate."
"We are doing well in training and we were not so lucky in this match," Xavi said.
Xavi also said that the only solution to achieve better results is to develop the level of the players.
"What we lack is the focus throughout the 90 minutes, and Al Wakrah is not the team of the previous season and they have evolved. Many things have changed in the League Championship, and we lack some confidence after we had opportunities and did not succeed in converting them into goals."
"I am in charge of the team and its results, but we are one family and winning and losing is part of this family. After winning the Super Cup, winning is back for everyone, so now the loss rests with everyone and we have to work together to achieve better results," Xavi said.
Elsewhere, in the second match of the day, Al Arabi defeated Al Ahli 3-0.
