Duhail regain one-point lead after a nervy win over Shahania

Al Duhail held on to their one-point lead at top of Qatar Stars League after a 2-1 win over Al Shahania at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium on Friday. Michael Olunga (46th minute) and Karim Boudiaf (70th minute) struck for Duhail before Pelle van Amersfoort pulled one back for Al Shahania off a penalty kick in the 66th minute.
The hard-fought win took Al Duhail back to the top of leaderboard, one ahead of defending champions Al Sadd, who had beaten Al Gharafa on Thursday.
Friday’s win was a relief for Duhail, who had lost to Sadd in their previous match to make the title race interesting. Duhail survived some late anxious moments as Shahania desperately searched for an equaliser. Two crucial fouls inside the danger area were also ruled out as Al Shahania’s winning streak of four games came to an end.
After a goalless opening half, Al Duhail hit the first salvo as Olunga caught a long kick from their goalkeeper Salah Zakaria Hassan halfway to the box, and sprinted to beat Al Shahania’s Marc Martinez and the rival custodian to score.
Al Shahania’s hopes received a shot in the arm when Van Amersfoort seemed to have been pulled down inside the penalty area, and after a VAR check the spot kick was awarded. He made no mistake in scoring to draw parity. Duhail however soon got back the lead as Boudiaf timed his jump perfectly to a corner kick to head the ball into the right side of the goal.
The nine added minutes of stoppage time provided for a lot of goal mouth action at Al Duhail’s end, but Al Shahania failed to find another finish and unlike in their first leg clash which they had won 2-1, they ended up losing this time with a similar margin. To add to their woes, Al Shahania’s Francesco Antonucci received a red card at in the stoppage time.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli and Al Shamal played out a 1-1 draw at the Al Thumama Stadium. Julian Draxler seemed to have won it for fourth-placed Al Ahli with a strike in the second minute of stoppage time, but Naim Sliti struck three minutes later as Al Shamal – who are sixth in the table – salvaged a point.
In the other match, a late stoppage-time goal from Kenji Gorre saw Umm Salal hold Qatar SC 2-2 in a scrappy affair at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium.
With both sides eagerly seeking a win to wriggle out of the relegation zone, the match provided for a lot of excitement. In the end, the two teams shared a point each, with Qatar SC moving up to ninth, while Umm Salal stated at 11th.
Trying to force the issue, Umm Salal also ended up losing a man in Marouane Louadni as he received the marching orders for a rough tackle inside the box in the 78th minute. While Ali al-Muhannadi (26th minute) and Gorre (90+11 minute) scored for Umm Salal, the goals for Qatar SC came in the added time of opening half - and both from penalties scored by Carlinhos (45+1 and 45+8 minute).