Al Rayyan’s Yacine Brahimi (right) celebrates with team-mates after scoring their second goal against Al Sailiya at the Al Ahli Stadium, yesterday.
Former champions Al Rayyan relied on a brilliant double by Yacine Brahimi to ease past Al Sailiya 2-0 for their sixth successive win in the QNB Stars League (QSL), yesterday.
The victory in the Round 9 match put Al Rayyan on top with 21 points, one point clear of Al Duhail, who will face the defending champions Al Sadd tomorrow in a crunch tie.
At the Al Ahli Stadium yesterday, Brahimi put Diego Aguirre’s side ahead just seven minutes after the kick-off.
Following a pass from Khalid Moftah, in-form Brahimi managed to escape from a challenge from Mustafa Abdel Hamid and dribbled a long way before beating the Al Sailiya goalkeeper Khalifa Abavacar inside the penalty area.
After the early goal, Al Sailiya foiled several attempts made by Al Rayyan, including a close one in the 35th minute by Mohamed Alaa, who just missed the target.
Al Sailiya also made several attempts for an equaliser but Al Rayyan avoided any damage, thanks to heroics of goalkeeper Fahad Younis.
In the second half, both sides looked equally strong in defence, before Brahimi struck again in injury time (90+3) to seal the victory.
It was Algerian star’s 6th goal of the season.
As Al Rayyan and Al Duhail occupy top two spots, Xavi’s Al Sadd are sitting at the third spot with 15 points, having played three matches less due to their AFC Champions League commitments.
Earlier in yesterday’s first match, bottom placed Al Shahania put hosts Qatar SC to test despite going down 1-0 at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium.
Uzbek striker Sardor Rashidov scored the winning goal for Qatar SC just before the half-time break (45+1) following a stiff resistance from the visitors who are yet to record a win this season.
Al Shahania, coming from three consecutive draws, could not make a breakthrough despite being resilient against the Alejandro Galvez-led team.
Qatar SC enjoyed most of the ball possession in the first half, which ended in their favour after Rashidov struck following a cross from Kayke Rodriguez in stoppage time.
Ali Ferydoon and Ramin Rezaein made attempts to level scores, but did not succeed. The third win of the season promoted Qatar SC to eighth position in the standings as they moved on to nine points.
Qatar SC were winless for four weeks before outplaying Al Khor 2-1 in the fifth round. Last week they trounced Umm Salal 5-0.
Under new coach, former Qatar international and Al Sadd midfielder Wesam Rizik who came in place of Spaniard Carlos Alos Ferrer, Qatar SC are showing a rapid progress and to send a warning to the top teams in the League.
