Duhail retain four-point lead; al-Somah’s hat-trick sinks Rayyan

Al Duhail maintained their four-point lead at the top of the QNB Stars League after a 2-1 win over Al Ahli on Saturday. Their closest rivals Al Arabi also won yesterday, thanks to Omar al-Somah’s hat-trick to pile misery on Al Rayyan.At the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Khaled Mohamed opened the scoring in the 21st minute, before Sultan al-Brake doubled the lead for Duhail in the 44th minute. Abubakar Mohamed pulled one back for Ahli in the 53rd minute but the visitors could not force an equaliser.Duhail were wary of The Brigadiers who had been in good run of late. Duhail had more of the ball possession and created more chances.Al-Somah, meanwhile, got Arabi back to winning ways at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium after having lost two successive matches. The Syrian striker scored in the 34th, 52nd and 67th minutes. Morocco’s World Cup star Sofiane Boufal made his debut for Rayyan but could not stop them from crashing to eight defeat in 12 matches as they languish at 10th place.It was Arabi’s one of the best performances this season, especially in the second half. The victory margin would have swelled had it not been for their missed opportunities.Arabi began to impose themselves from the start and that culminated in the first goal, with al-Somah finding the target off Rafinha’s cross. Rayyan found it difficult to make a comeback and their attack lacked understanding. Despite that, they almost scored not long after the second half started, but Vargas’ shot hit the crossbar.Arabi, meanwhile, doubled their lead, with al-Somah scoring a second time. As Rayyan retreated, Arabi continued the pressure and Al Somah was at it again off a counter-attack led by Msakni. Arabi almost added another goal in stoppage time, but Msakni’s shot hit the crossbar.Earlier, reigning champions Al Sadd climbed to third after 2-0 win over at home. Baghdad Bounedjah (ninth minute) and Akram Afif (88th minute) scored for the winners. This was Al Sadd’s fourth successive win after league resumed after World Cup break.Sadd, who took to the field sans their star and skipper Hassan al-Haydous, excelled equally good, with goalkeeper Saad al-Dossari captaining the side. The Wolves did not take them long to fetch the lead.A through ball saw Akram Afif run down the left swiftly to connect and pass it to his right for Mohamed Waad to strike from the centre. The kick saw Umm Salal goalkeeper Khalifa Ababacar fall down in the process and for the ball to ricochet and Bounedjah rushed in to score coolly.Umm Salal suffered a blow in the 78th minute when their left-back Atef Mohammed was given marching orders after a second yellow after a sliding foul against a rushing Khoukhi.Umm Salal’s hopes were further dented as Afif produced the second goal. Running down the left, Afif gave a pass to Bounedjah just outside the box on the left. Bounedjah broke into the danger area and sent a cross to Ali Asad, who relayed the ball back to Afif – waiting in the centre – to score. Meanwhile, Al Gharafa scored a 4-0 win over Al Wakrah. Homam al-Ameen with a brace (18th and 75th minutes), Yacine Brahimi (54th minute) and Muayad Hassan (63rd minute) scored the goals. The win and the valuable three points saw Al Gharafa move to fifth, while Al Wakrah are sixth.