Moreno’s late strike keeps Rayyan top

With the help of Rodrigo Moreno’s last-gasp goal Al Rayyan moved two points clear at the top of Expo Stars League despite having captain Abdulaziz Hatem sent-off in a thrilling 1-0 win over Al Arabi on Saturday.The league resumed after a 20-day break in front of a record crowd of 28,397 at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Saturday. With the fans of both sides cheering for their teams, The Lions continued from where they stopped as former Leeds United forward Rodrigo snatched a 90+7 minute goal for his team, off an assist from Achraf Bencharki, to maintain their perfect start to the season.The two sides have enjoyed different fortunes since the beginning of the season.While Al Rayyan have won all three matches so far and are comfortably sitting on top of the rankings with the maximum nine points, The Dream Team, on the other hand, have only managed draws in all of theirs.The ex-PSG midfielder, a newly-signed Al Arabi player Marco Verratti, did not disappoint as he enthralled fans with his control of the midfield.Al Arabi gave their statement of intent as early as the second minute, when Abdullah Marafee tried a through ball that cut through Al Rayyan’s defence, but Abdou Diallo was subsequently caught offside. Omar al- Somah and Rafinha subsequently missed at least three attempts within the next five minutes.Al Arabi had a penalty call overturned by VAR in the 15th minute after Al Rayyan’s Bassam al-Rawi seemed to have brought down Abdullah Marafee in the 18-yard box.Yousef Msakni was the tormentor in chief for Al Arabi for most of the first half, as his overlapping runs and impressive footwork often proved too much for the Al Rayyan sides to handle as the Tunisian forward kept drawing fouls that resulted in free kicks for his side.Despite many close calls, the first half ended goalless, with both teams guilty of considerable profligacy in front of goal.With tension boiling on both sides, Hatem got the red card in the 73rd minute after a dangerous high-heel tackle on Al Arabi’s Rafinha. Reduced to 10 men, Al Rayyan rejigged their formation with extra focus on the defence while not reducing their intensity going forward. Rodrigo Tabata was brought in to replace Brazilian Gabriel Pereira in the 79th minute.Msakni almost broke the deadlock in the 87th minute, but his 20-yard thunderbolt of a shot, off a Verratti assist, grazed the upright with goalkeeper Fahad Baker already beaten.Al Rayyan got their own "almost there” moment when Tabata’s goal-bound header from the centre of the box in the third minute of injury time was surprisingly saved in the centre of the goal. Their wait was not for too long as Rodrigo made the difference four minutes later to give the teeming fans in red mufflers much to cheer about as the match ended with smiles on their faces.Meanwhile Al Sadd defeated Qatar SC 3-1 to return to winning ways at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday.Gonzalo Plata (16th minute), Akram Afif 64th minute (Penalty) and Paulo Otavio Silva (80th minute) got the goals for the winners while Ben Malango scored Qatar SC’s only goal in the 20th minute. The victory saw Al Sadd retain their second place in the standings with 10 points from four games while Qatar SC are in tenth spot with two points to their credit having suffered a second defeat.