Al Arabi's Youssef Msakni (third right) celebrates with teammates.
Doha: Tunisia striker Youssef Msakni and Syrian forward Omar Al Somah scored a brace each as Al Arabi beat Al Sailiya 4-1 to climb to the top of the QNB Stars League standings once again, yesterday.
The Dream Team now sit at the top with 37 points from 17 matches after their 12th win of the season. While Mehrdad Mohammadi scored for Al Sailiya in the eighth minute of the match, Al Arabi replied through Al Somah’s goals in the 32nd and 45+1 minute before Msakni’s strikes in the 63rd and 85th minutes.
Earlier, at the same venue, Boualem Khoukhi netted a double while Akram Afif added one more as Al Sadd fought back from one goal down to beat Al Shamal 3-1 in their Week 17 clash.
Title-holders Al Sadd’s goals suffered an early blow when Boualem gave away an own goal for Al Shamal. Khoukhi was blinded while man-marking during an Al Shamal flag kick and with a rival player rising high to attempt a header, Khoukhi was caught off guard as the ball sailed past and towards him and he accidentally kicked it into his own goal.
Al Sadd's Boualem Khoukhi celebrates with teammate Baghdad Bounedjah.
However, the Qatari defender levelled in the 52nd minute before Afif doubled the advantage in the 73rd minute. Boualem scored his second goal in the injury time (90+2) as Al Sadd sealed their 10th win of the season.
Following their latest win, coach Juan Manuel Lillo praised the Wolves’ performances.
“I am very satisfied with the team’s performance against Al Shamal, given the timing of the match and what happened in the last game against Al Duhail. I am very satisfied with the team and what we achieved today in winning by three goals,” Lillo said, referring to the two-all draw with Al Duhail in the previous round. The victory meant the Wolves increased their tally to 32 points, while continuing to occupy third place in the standings.
Meanwhile, at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium, Al Gharafa got back to winning ways by beating Umm Salal 2-1. The home side’s goals were scored by Yacine Brahimi (35th-minute penalty) and Ahmed Al Janahi (57). Joao Teixeira pulled one back for Umm Salal in the 90+4th minute.
QNB STARS LEAGUE WEEK 17
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
Umm Salal 1 - 2 Al Gharafa
Al Shamal 1 - 3 Al Sadd
Al Arabi VS Al Sailiya
TODAY
(17:00) Al Wakrah VS Al Ahli
At Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Stadium
(17:00) Al Markhiya VS Al Rayyan
At Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium
(19:45) Qatar SC VS Al Duhail
At Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium
