The second round of the new QNB Stars League (QSL) season saw some of the most exciting battles despite the low scoring rate, with four of the matches ending with teams sharing points. Al Sailiya and Al Arabi were the only two teams to secure wins during the weekend, with the latter defeating Al Rayyan at the brand new Lusail Stadium in front of a huge number of supporters.
The second round saw 14 goals being scored compared to 20 goals in Week 1.
Al Arabi remained the only team to win in the first two rounds, while five sides have yet to register a win.
In the opener, Umm Salal took the lead through Joao Carlos Teixeira before the end of first half. They finished the match with 10 players after Abdullah Khafifi was sent off and Al Sadd managed to equalize through Baghdad Bounedjah.
With this result, both teams scored their first points as Al Sadd had lost to Al Markhiya and Umm Salal to Al Ahli.
In the second match, Al Markhiya continued their strong performance and succeeded in holding Qatar SC to a draw. Badr Banoun took Qatar SC ahead with a penalty kick, while Ayman Hussein scored the equaliser for Al Markhiya. Qatar SC thus got their first point as they had lost to Al Arabi. Al Markhiya raised their tally to four points.
In one of the top matches of this round, Al Gharafa and Al Wakrah played out a 1-1 draw after an exciting show from both teams.
Al Gharafa opened the scoring through Islam Toktahugayev and Gelson Dala scored the equaliser for Al Wakrah.
The match witnessed the debut of Algerian Yacine Brahimi for Al Gharafa.
Al Gharafa and Al Wakrah raised their score to four points.
In the fourth match, Al Sailiya beat Al Shamal for their first victory in the league. Giannis Fetfatzidis and Carlos Strandberg scored for Al Sailiya even though Al Shamal were the first to score through Mohammed El Sayed (Jeddo).
The fifth game saw Al Ahli and Al Duhail share the spoils with a 1-1 score.
As the match looked heading for a goalless draw, substitute Nasser Al Yazidi took Al Duhail ahead, but Hussein Kanaani snatched the equalizer for Al Ahli through a penalty kick in the dying minutes.
Al Duhail opened their tally, having lost to Al Wakrah in their opener, whereas Al Ahli moved on to four points as they had beaten Umm Salal in Week 1.
The week’s action concluded with the summit clash between Al Arabi and Al Rayyan at Qatar's latest FIFA World Cup venue in front of more than 20,000 spectators.
The encounter lived up to its top billing and sparks flew on the pitch. Al Arabi were the first to advance with a beautiful goal scored by Yousef Msakni. Mehrdad Mohammadi added their second goal with a penalty kick. Yohan Boli scored the only goal of Al Rayyan.
The match witnessed the expulsion of Al Arabi’s Mohammed Badr Sayyar in the dying minutes.
With this victory, Al Arabi topped the table with six points, while Al Rayyan are the only side yet to collect a point.
