Al Duhail’s Yousef Msakni celebrates after scoring against Al Khor yesterday.
A brilliant double by Mohammed Muntari (43, 57) led an impressive comeback before captain Yousef Msakni (66) finished off with a beauty as the QNB Stars League (QSL) points leaders fought back from a goal down to defeat Al Khor 3-2 yesterday.
Their 8th win of the season also cemented unbeaten Al Duhail’s place at the top of the QSL points table.
At the Al Khor Stadium, Abdulla Moraisi (17) and Ahmed Hammoudan (29) put Al Khor ahead, surprising the Al Duhail fans early in the first half.
Also, it seemed like Al Khor were going to hand the former champions their first defeat in the season.
Thiago Bezerra drifted past two markers down the right-hand side before laying off a perfect pass for Al Moraisi to excellently side-foot home from 10 yards out.
The lead was quickly doubled when Bezerra again chased down a long ball over the top before finding Hammoudan with a well-weighted pass across the box and the marksman calmly slotted past Amine Lecomte.
Al Duhail soon got back into the competitive game when Paulo Edmilson whipped in an out-swinging corner from the right and Muntari rose highest to power a header low into the corner of the goal.
Al Duhail got another chance to level the score when they were awarded a penalty for a handball early in the second half and Muntari stepped up to convert the spot kick.
In the 66th minute, captain Msakni fired a hard shot across the face of the goal and into the net to complete the brilliant comeback against the relegation-thretened Al Khor.
Earlier, Al Wakrah came from behind to secure big three points with a 2-1 victory against Al Ahli.
Al Wakrah’s goals were scored by Ali Karami in the 52nd minute and Mohamed Benyettou in the 88th minute. Al Ahli had taken the lead in the 16th minute through Nabil El Zahr.
Al Ahli had started in a positive style, with an early dominance providing early rewards. Al Zahr advanced inside the box, cut inside Mohammed Al Bayati before unleashing an unstoppable drive that flew straight past the goalkeeper.
Al Wakrah responded well and were carving out chances throughout the half that ought to have yielded an equaliser.
First, Khalid Mazeed, who was in good form, found Meshaal Abdulla with a wonderful through ball, but the forward screwed his shot marginally wide.
Next up was Benyettou whose trickery allowed him space to shoot in the area, but his well-directed shot was tipped wide of the post. The goal did finally come early in the second half, moments after they had a penalty appeal turned down. Karami picked up the ball outside the penalty area and struck a shot across the face of the goal, evading Ivanildo Rodrigues in goal and finding the back of the net.
With injury time looming, Al Wakrah got the goal that their efforts deserved to seal all three points.
Substitute Ismail Mardanali cut in from the left channel, dribbled his way into the box before hitting low and hard into the corner, but the shot was parried by the goalkeeper and into the path of the grateful Benyettou to get the winner from close range.
