Al Sadd’s Raul Gonzalez (right) of Spain fights for the ball with Al Khor’s Ahmad Almohannadi during their Qatar Stars League match in Doha, yesterday. Al Sadd won 2-1.
DOHA: Ten-man Al Sadd maintained their 100 per cent record in the Qatar Stars League (QSL), but were made to work in their 2-1 win against Al Khor, yesterday.
In other QSl action, Al Rayyan crushed Al Gharafa 5-1, and Eljaish and Al Wakra shared the points in their 1-1 draw.
As early as the 4th minute, Al Khor nearly took the lead when Hamoud Al Yazidi forced Al Sadd goalkeeper Mohamed Ahmed into making a save.
The visitors grew in confidence as the match went on and had the advantage when Al Sadd were reduced to ten-men, when Nadir Belhadj received a red card.
He attempted to kick Hamoud Al Yazidi in the face, following a challenge between the two players.
Al Khor began to take advantage of having the extra man, and were unlucky not to take the lead twice in under a minute. In the 18th minute, a header by Hasan Mahmoud was well saved by Ahmed.
Merely a minute later, Awal Ibrahim struck the crossbar from 25 years out that had Ahmed well beaten.
Yet, Al Sadd battled for possession and took the lead in the 29th minute. South Korea’s Jung Soo Lee lashed a low-shot that beat Al Khor goalkeeper Papa Kane.
In the second half, Al Sadd nearly doubled their lead in the 51st minute, when Hassan Abdulkarim broke away from his marker.
The defender’s cross was deflected by Ahmed, and despite Ibrahim Khalfan’s effort to set up Raul for a header, the Spanish striker was unable to convert the chance.
Six minutes later, Hassan Alhaydos doubled his team’s tally in the 57th minute. The striker scored a free-kick from outside the penalty area.
Al Khor reduced the deficit thanks to Mahmoud in the 59th minute. After a low-cross from Mostafa Mousa, Mahmoud saw his first shot fumbled by Ahmed, but made no mistake with the second attempt.
Elsewhere, Al Rayyan took the lead thanks to Mussa Haroon. The defender headed Rodrigo Tabata’s cross into the net early in the first half.
Nilmar scored his sixth goal of the season to double his side’s lead shortly before half-time. The Brazilian striker out-muscled his opponent and headed the ball, delivered by Daniel Goumou into the back of the net.
After Tabata made it 3-0 in the 54th minute, Ismael Hamid scored Al Rayyan’s fourth goal, courtesy of a penalty.
The Al Rayyan player calmly slotted the ball sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
In the 87th minute, Jarrallah Al Marri added more misery to Al Gharafa players when the striker scored a wonderful curling shot to make it 5-0.
Al Gharafa never gave up, and Dorde Rakic scored a consolation goal. THE PENINSULA
