Al Duhail defeated Al Ahli 2-0, while Al Rayyan eased past Al Arabi 3-0 in the QSL Cup Group A second round matches on Saturday.
At the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, a brace from Ahmed al-Rawi in the 24th and 43rd minutes, and a Gabriel Pereira’s strike in the 52nd minute ensured Rayyan an easy win over Arabi.
The two teams completed the match with ten men after Luis Martin and Khalid Ali were shown red card in the 83rd minute.
With the victory, Rayyan are top of the group with six points, ahead on with a goal difference over Duhail, while Arabi remained at third with three points.
At the Al Khor Stadium, after the first half ended in a goalless draw Rashid al-Abdullah put Duhail ahead in the in the 59th minute. Luis Alberto then added a second in the 64th minute, which was enough for the Red Knights to secure three points.
Under-21 player al-Abdulla gave a good account of his skills as he first made his intentions clear attacking the rival citadel in the 11th minute of the match but his kick was kept out by Al Ahli’s goalkeeper Marwan Sherif Badreldin.
In closing stages of added time of the opening half, Al Ahli’s Driss Fettouhi broke past the wall with a free kick taken from just outside the box but this time Al Duhail goalkeeper Bautista Burki foiled the attempt.
Soon in the second session, Fettouhi committed a grave error of making a casual pass back into his own box to Matej Mitrovic but an alert al-Abdulla intercepted the ball and beat defenders and the goalkeeper alike for Al Duhail to go up the lead.
Midway through the half, Al Duhail doubled the lead with substitute Khaled Mohamed Saleh setting up a fine ball for Alberto Romero who went past the defence line and kicked through successfully.
Later on, Al Ahli did make attempts to challenge Al Duhail’s defence but in vain.
Earlier, a last-gasp goal saw Qatar SC hold Al Shahania 3-3 in their exciting match at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium. While Qatar SC went up the lead early in the game, Al Shahania hit back with their three goals in the opening half. Qatar SC then rallied to level scores with the final goal coming in the dying moments of stoppage time.
While Andreas Van Beek (24th minute), and Petrus Amersfoort (41st minute & 45+2’) scored for Al Shahania, the goals for Qatar SC came from Carlos Vinicius Jesus – Carlinhos (16th minute & 90+8’ (penalty)) and Ahmed Radwan (87th minute).
Qatar SC’s opening strike was thrilling as Carlos took a corner kick but the ball came back to him off a defence header and this time he sized up his kick superbly going over the goalkeeper’s head into the net. Al Shahania hit back with Van Beek converting after a fine assist from Franceso Antonucci (1-1).
Amersfoort then swung into action late in the first half with a superb brace to make it 3-1. His first strike from just outside the box was off a cross from Antonucci from the right, while the second was much similar from top of the box after Hossam Kamal provided him the ball from the right.
Qatar SC retaliated with strong attempts but succeeded after some close chances only in the 87th minute with Radwan scoring off a ricochet from the goalkeeper’s hands after Carlos sent in a powerful kick (2-3).
Al Shahania foiled their own show as Sebastian Soria was pushed out in the dying moments of stoppage time by substitute Abdulaziz al-Yahri and the referee called for a penalty. Carlos made no mistake for the spot to ensure a 3-3 draw for Qatar SC.
![Al Rayyan’s Ahmed al-Rawi celebrates after scoring against Al Arabi during the QSL match at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday. Al Rayyan’s Ahmed al-Rawi celebrates after scoring against Al Arabi during the QSL match at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday.](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2024/09/07/220220.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Al Rayyan’s Ahmed al-Rawi celebrates after scoring against Al Arabi during the QSL match at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday.