Qatar Stars League (QSL) leaders Lekhwiya bagged a hard fought point against league strugglers Al Wakrah after a stunning comeback that saw the league leaders come from 3-0 down to finish the game 3-3 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in yesterday’s early Round 17 QSL kickoff.
Al Wakrah stunned the league leaders early on by taking the lead after just four minutes of play thanks to a fine finish from Prince Ibara. Lekhwiya failed to properly clear their lines after the first corner of the game and Wakrah’s Ibara was quick to pounce on a loose ball on the edge of the box and smash a volley into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
Things went from bad to worse for Lekhwiya when Khalid Muftah brought down Wakrah’s Mouhcine Moutouali in the 18-yard box with just 16 minutes on the clock. Muftah was lucky to stay on the field as he was Lekhwiya’s last defender and Moutouali was clearly through on goal. The referee was quick to reach for his yellow and blow for a penalty, which Moutouali converted, bagging his seventh of the season to make it 2-0 for Al Wakrah.
There was mass confusion in the 30th minute when the referee awarded a penalty to Lekhwiya after Al Wakrah’s Sultan al-Breki appeared to control the ball with his arm in the box. Despite the referee blowing for a penalty and Lekhwiya celebrating and placing the ball on the spot, the call was overturned just seconds later after one of the linesmen cast his judgement over the ruling and the referee changed his mind. Despite protests from Lekhwiya’s entire squad, Al Wakrah were awarded a goal kick and the play went on.
It didn’t take long for Al Wakrah to make it 3-0 in the second half. In the 50th minute, the ball found its way to Abdurahman Mesaad, who calmly turned inside and wrong-footed a defender before hitting a fierce shot with his right from 20 yards out, to score his first goal for the club.
Most would have assumed Al Wakrah would be leaving with the full three points but Lekhwiya had other ideas and stepped it up a gear in the last 30 minutes. Their comeback started on the 72nd minute when Ali Afif found the back of the net from six yards out after some poor defending from Al Wakrah. Ten minutes later, Afif struck again to make it 3-2, scoring with his head this time after being left in acres of space in the box.
Karim Boudaif made Lekhwiya’s comeback a reality in the 88th minute when he struck a lightning bolt of a shot from 20 yards out to claim a point for the aspiring champions and leave them six points clear at the top.