Al Rayyan beat Al Arabi 2-0 to put pressure on Al Duhail as the battle for second place in the QNB Stars league heated up.
Star Ivorian striker Yohan Boli scored in each half as Al Rayyan claimed their 10th victory in 19 matches which took their tally to 34 points.
That puts them six behind Al Duhail who are in second place behind champions Al Sadd who won the title with four matches to spare.
Al Rayyan will be now aiming to win their remaining three matches while hoping that Al Duhail suffer a dip in form.
Al Arabi remained on 26 points following their seventh defeat.
Cheered on by their sizeable passionate fans, both Al Rayyan and Al Arabi, traditional rivals with many titles to their credit, fought it out.
Al Rayyan dominated the early exchanges barring a long-range shot by Al Arabi’s Mehrdad Mohammadi that went wide of the target.
Boli opened the scoring with a deft shot beating the challenge of Al Arabi defenders Marc Martinez and Fahad Shnein. And a diving goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada could not stop the ball from going into the goal.
Al Rayyan youngster Naif al-Hadrami had his shot from the right blocked by Abunada in the 41st minute. Ibrahim Masoud came up with a volley on the rebound, but the ball went wide across the goal.
During the session, Al Arabi’s Sebastian Soria sent a long-range shot straight to goalkeeper Saoud Al Hajri.
Al Arabi obviously upped the ante in the second half. Soon after the restart, Ahmed Fathy shot over the Al Rayyan goal. He was at it again in the 51st minute, but his header off a Soria chip cross was parried by the goalkeeper.
Even as Al Arabi kept pressing hard and Aron Gunnarsson’s long-ranger flew wide of the left post, Al Rayyan found their second goal towards close, with a waiting Boli placing in a cross from the right by Mohammed Alaaeldin.
Al Rayyan and Al Arabi had played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of 2020-21 season QNB Stars League.
Earlier, Al Ahli beat Al Gharafa 3-1. Captain Omid Ebrahimi (34th minute), Abdulrasheed Ibrahim (67th minute) and Hernan Perez (89th minute) scored the goals for Al Ahli, while Serge Kanon (83rd minute) was the scorer for Al Gharafa.
The Brigadiers moved on to 29 points following their ninth win, while Al Gharafa remained on 30 points. It was a great turnaround for Al Ahli, who suffered a 0-4 defeat to The Cheetahs in the first leg.
Al Ahli got a golden chance early in the second minute when Hazem Shehata, taking advantage of a defensive error, got control of a long ball inside the box, but his hit went wide.
Al Gharafa responded with an attack soon, but Adlene Guedioura’s hit from outside the box missed the crossbar by a yard.
It was a balanced match with both teams having almost an equal share of ball possession and attacks on the half-hour mark.
Al Ahli then went ahead with a spectacular header from near the penalty spot by Ebrahimi that bounced into the left corner of goalkeeper Yousef Hassan, following a corner kick.
The Brigadiers could have doubled the lead four minutes before the break but Perez – confused with a possible offside – took his try too early when he had only the goalkeeper to beat.
Just before the half-time whistle, Sofiane Hanni created an opportunity for a leveller with a beautiful chip, but Jonathan Kodjia, despite trying hard for a header, missed the ball.
The second half got off to a fast start, with Al Ahli emerging as a better side, attacking the opposition in short intervals. Jasem Mohamed Omer missed an opportunity after receiving a cross in a good position, but his volley was off target.
Al Gharafa goalkeeper Yousef made a good save from Ibrahim’s attempt after an attack from the right flank to keep the scoreline intact on the hour mark.
Ibrahim, however, did not miss a chance seven minutes later, putting the ball in from near the penalty spot after receiving a clever through pass from Perez.
Al Gharafa fought back strongly by putting pressure on Al Ahli and pulled one back when Kanon found the target after a pass from Sofiane seven minutes before time.
But Perez ended Al Gharafa’s hopes of drawing the match by smashing a brilliant hit one minute before the time to seal victory for Al Ahli.
In another match, Qatar Sports Club defeated Al Khor 2-1. They are now fourth with 31 points
Star Ivorian striker Yohan Boli scored in each half as Al Rayyan claimed their 10th victory in 19 matches which took their tally to 34 points.
That puts them six behind Al Duhail who are in second place behind champions Al Sadd who won the title with four matches to spare.
Al Rayyan will be now aiming to win their remaining three matches while hoping that Al Duhail suffer a dip in form.
Al Arabi remained on 26 points following their seventh defeat.
Cheered on by their sizeable passionate fans, both Al Rayyan and Al Arabi, traditional rivals with many titles to their credit, fought it out.
Al Rayyan dominated the early exchanges barring a long-range shot by Al Arabi’s Mehrdad Mohammadi that went wide of the target.
Boli opened the scoring with a deft shot beating the challenge of Al Arabi defenders Marc Martinez and Fahad Shnein. And a diving goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada could not stop the ball from going into the goal.
Al Rayyan youngster Naif al-Hadrami had his shot from the right blocked by Abunada in the 41st minute. Ibrahim Masoud came up with a volley on the rebound, but the ball went wide across the goal.
During the session, Al Arabi’s Sebastian Soria sent a long-range shot straight to goalkeeper Saoud Al Hajri.
Al Arabi obviously upped the ante in the second half. Soon after the restart, Ahmed Fathy shot over the Al Rayyan goal. He was at it again in the 51st minute, but his header off a Soria chip cross was parried by the goalkeeper.
Even as Al Arabi kept pressing hard and Aron Gunnarsson’s long-ranger flew wide of the left post, Al Rayyan found their second goal towards close, with a waiting Boli placing in a cross from the right by Mohammed Alaaeldin.
Al Rayyan and Al Arabi had played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of 2020-21 season QNB Stars League.
Earlier, Al Ahli beat Al Gharafa 3-1. Captain Omid Ebrahimi (34th minute), Abdulrasheed Ibrahim (67th minute) and Hernan Perez (89th minute) scored the goals for Al Ahli, while Serge Kanon (83rd minute) was the scorer for Al Gharafa.
The Brigadiers moved on to 29 points following their ninth win, while Al Gharafa remained on 30 points. It was a great turnaround for Al Ahli, who suffered a 0-4 defeat to The Cheetahs in the first leg.
Al Ahli got a golden chance early in the second minute when Hazem Shehata, taking advantage of a defensive error, got control of a long ball inside the box, but his hit went wide.
Al Gharafa responded with an attack soon, but Adlene Guedioura’s hit from outside the box missed the crossbar by a yard.
It was a balanced match with both teams having almost an equal share of ball possession and attacks on the half-hour mark.
Al Ahli then went ahead with a spectacular header from near the penalty spot by Ebrahimi that bounced into the left corner of goalkeeper Yousef Hassan, following a corner kick.
The Brigadiers could have doubled the lead four minutes before the break but Perez – confused with a possible offside – took his try too early when he had only the goalkeeper to beat.
Just before the half-time whistle, Sofiane Hanni created an opportunity for a leveller with a beautiful chip, but Jonathan Kodjia, despite trying hard for a header, missed the ball.
The second half got off to a fast start, with Al Ahli emerging as a better side, attacking the opposition in short intervals. Jasem Mohamed Omer missed an opportunity after receiving a cross in a good position, but his volley was off target.
Al Gharafa goalkeeper Yousef made a good save from Ibrahim’s attempt after an attack from the right flank to keep the scoreline intact on the hour mark.
Ibrahim, however, did not miss a chance seven minutes later, putting the ball in from near the penalty spot after receiving a clever through pass from Perez.
Al Gharafa fought back strongly by putting pressure on Al Ahli and pulled one back when Kanon found the target after a pass from Sofiane seven minutes before time.
But Perez ended Al Gharafa’s hopes of drawing the match by smashing a brilliant hit one minute before the time to seal victory for Al Ahli.
In another match, Qatar Sports Club defeated Al Khor 2-1. They are now fourth with 31 points
