Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Tabata (left) celebrates with a team-mate after scoring against Al Ahli yesterday.
DOHA: Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder played a perfect role as the captain as Al Gharafa signed off with a 3-0 win against Qatar SC to seal the fourth spot of the QNB Stars League (QSL) season yesterday.
In front of their home fans, Sneijder gave his team the much needed lead in the 45th minute as a brilliant double by Mehdi Taremi (68th and 85th minutes) made the day for coach Bulent Ugyun’s team.
Yesterday’s win also secured Al Gharafa their place in the elite Qatar Cup and will be joining the QSL champions Al Duhail, runner up Al Sadd and third placed Al Rayyan in the tournament which commences on April 21.
Elsewhere, a second-half goal by Bilal Rajab yesterday saved the day for bottom-placed Al Markhiya who held Umm Salal to a 1-1 draw on the final day of the League.
At Al Ahli Stadium, Mohammed Mawas opened the scoring for Umm Salal in just the second minute, clipping a lose ball into the net from close range as Al Markhiya goalkeeper Muntata Khuroob could not effect a save.
It was Mawas’s third goal of the season.
In the 11th minute, Al Markhiya’s Leonardo Henrique attempted a bicycle kick from the edge of the box but his feeble shot was easily pocketed by veteran Umm Salal goalkeeper Baba Malick who went on to defend well for most part of the game.
In the 21st minute, Umm Salal’s Ramy Fayez was booked for bringing down Eric de Olieveira with a rough sliding tackle that was quickly noted by referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim.
In the 29th minute, Al Makrkhiya’s Saleh Badr Al Yazidi unleashed a superbly-taken curling left-footed drive that was punched by a diving Malick. At the end of the first half hour mark, Al Markhiya surprisingly had more of the ball possession (62 percent) over their rivals in all black.
Five minutes later, Umm Salal’s Mahir Issa completely mistimed his snap-header as he had an open goal to meet his target with keeper Khubroo embarrassingly out of position.
Rajab equalised for Al Markhiya in the 73rd minute with a snap-header from close range, causing Umm Salal to lose ground on fourth-placed Al Gharafa.
At Al Sadd Stadium, Al Rayyan proved to be too strong for Al Ahli as skipper Rodrigo Tabata scored twice to seal a 4-1 win yesterday.
Tabata scored in the 18th and 49th minutes ’
while Gonzalo Viera (44’) and Andres Quintana (90’+2’) rounded up Al Rayyan’s score.
John Benson scored the only goal for Al Ahli in the 80th minute.
At Al Khor Stadium, hosts beat Al Arabi 2-1 thanks to a brilliant double by Ariel Ngueukam (15’ and 87’). Suad Natiq (71’) added the only goal for the losing side. The win also secured them the eighth spot in the final QSL standings.
