2021-22 QNB Stars League - Week 8 highlights

Al Sadd continued their strong performance in Week 8 of the 2021-22 QNB Stars League by achieving their eighth victory in a row, thus gearing up for their massive encounter against strong title contenders Al Duhail, who defeated Qatar SC 2-1, in Week 9.

In all, as many as 16 goals were scored, and only one of the six games ended in a draw, a goalless stalemate between Al Sailiya and Umm Salal, in the fixtures played between October 30 and 31.

Al Shamal benefitted most from this round, as they moved up from 11th to seventh place after beating Al Khor, who dropped from 10th to bottom position. Qatar SC slipped from seventh to ninth.

Al Duhail’s Kenyan striker Michael Olunga and Al Sadd’s Algerian spearhead Baghdad Bounedjah are jointly topping the scorers’ list with ten goals.

Here are the highlights from the matches:

Al Gharafa 0 vs Al Wakrah 1

Date: Sunday, October 31, 2021.

Venue: Al Gharafa Stadium

Al Wakrah defeated Al Gharafa 1-0 at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Sunday.

Substitute Abdulghani Muneer scored the winner in the 66th minute.

Al Wakrah and Al Gharafa thus kept the fourth and fifth position with 15 and 12 points respectively.

It was Al Wakrah’s fourth victory and Al Gharafa’s fourth defeat.

Al Wakrah, who drew goalless with Qatar SC in the previous round, got back to winning ways, whereas Al Gharafa, who defeated Al Khor by a 5-0 margin in Week 7, suffered a setback.

Both Al Gharafa and Al Wakrah were on 12 points going into the match and the victory has given The Blue Wave an advantage over The Cheetahs.

Play was even in the first half, defensively and offensively, and each team had their share of chances, with Mohamed Benyettou and Cheick Diabate leading the attacks of Al Wakrah and Al Gharafa respectively.

Al Wakrah seemed more dangerous at the beginning of second half, with Benyettou testing the rival defense.

Al Wakrah surged ahead through Abdulghani Muneer who found the back of the net with a superb long-range shot.

Al Gharafa threw their everything in quest of an equalizer that did not happen.

Al Sailiya 0 vs Umm Salal 0

Date: Sunday, October 31, 2021

Venue: Al Gharafa Stadium

Al Sailiya and Umm Salal played out a 0-0 draw at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Sunday.

Al Sailiya and Umm Salal moved on to five and six points respectively.

Going into the match, Umm Salal and Al Sailiya were in a desperate situation.

In fact, Umm Salal, Al Ahli and Al Khor were the only teams yet to record a victory this season and, after the eighth round, they remained so.

Al Ahli had lost 1-4 to reigning champions Al Sadd and Al Khor lost 0-4 to promoted side Al Shamal in Saturday’s action.

Umm Salal played under former Qatar international midfielder Wesam Rizik for the first time after he replaced Brazilian Sergio Farias following the team’s dismal run.

The match was evenly fought in terms of ball possession. Play was confined mostly to the middle of the field, so there were not many attempts at the goal, at either end until the 38th minute, when Al Sailiya counter-attacked, with Ramin Rezaien in the thick of action. However, the Iranian’s shot was saved by goalkeeper Khalifa Abubakr.

Al Arabi 2 vs Al Rayyan 1

Date: Saturday, October 30, 2021

Venue: Al Arabi Stadium

Al Arabi defeated Al Rayyan 2-1 at the Al Arabi Stadium on Saturday.

Farshid Esmaelli (48th minute) and Abdulrahman Mohammed (54th minute) scored for Al Arabi.

Yohan Boli (69th minute) reduced the deficit for Al Rayyan.

It was Al Arabi’s fifth win of the season and it took their points to 16, while Al Rayyan lost for a third time and stood on nine points.

As expected, both sides hit the ground. In the 20th minute, Al Rayyan keeper Fahad Younes blocked a shot by Aron Boupendza from close range just two minutes after being attacked by Abdullah Marafi from inside the Al Rayyan box.

Both sides walked off the pitch without a goal in the first half, but things got moving for Al Arabi early in the second. Esmaelli, showing great alertness, deflected a loose ball that had bounced off the Al Rayyan keeper after a shot by Boupendza from the edge of the box. The Iranian flicked the ball between the legs of Fahad for his side’s first goal.

Six minutes later, Al Arabi made the most of the momentum swing their way.  Abdulrahman Mohammed, who was unmarked inside the Al Rayyan box, easily deflected an indirect free-kick taken by Hamed Ismail a few meters from the corner flag.

Boli scored for Al Rayyan by heading home a long-range free-kick taken by Rodriguez. Boli jumped high to send the ball past the Al Arabi keeper.

Al Rayyan almost scored again the very next minute, but Abdulaziz Hatem’s shot from inside the box was deflected away by the keeper.

Deep into stoppage time (90+8), Rodriguez was given the marching orders. Seconds earlier, Yacine Brahimi and Steven Nzonzi of Al Rayyan were also shown yellow cards for contesting calls by the referee.

Al Sadd 4 vs Al Ahli 1

Date: Saturday, October 30, 2021

Venue: Al Gharafa Stadium

Reigning champions Al Sadd beat Al Ahli 4-1 at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Saturday.

Hassan Al Haydous (25th minute) Baghdad Bounedjah (54th and 85th-minute penalty) and Andrew Ayew (79th-minute penalty) scored the goals for Al Sadd.

Al Ahli’s only goal was scored by Patrick Eze through a penalty in the 68th minute.

Al Sadd raised their tally to 24 points following their eighth victory with an all-win record, the only team to do so thus far.

Al Ahli’s wait for their first victory thus continued and they remained on five points after suffering their third defeat.

It was mostly an Al Sadd show right from the start and captain Al Haydous put Al Sadd ahead as he successfully ended off a counter-attack. Santi Cazorla started it and fed Bounedjah, who ran with the ball through the middle and into the rival box before putting Al Haydous through on the left.

Al Ahli’s only serious attempt in the first half was made by Aldoukali Alsayed, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Saad Al Dossari.

Bounedjah had a goal ruled offside in the 36th minute.

Changing ends, Al Sadd continued their domination and scored a second time through Bounedjah, who headed in Abdelkarim Hassan’s cross from the left.

Soon, Al Ahli got a good chance to reduce the margin, but for the brilliant save by Al Dossari off striker Patrick Eze’s header.

But Al Ahli and Eze were not to be denied and they did reduce the margin through a penalty awarded after Abdelkarim Hassan fouled Abdulrahman Al Harazi.

Al Sadd then earned a penalty when Bounedjah was fouled by Ibrahim Majed. Andre Ayew’s first take from the spot was blocked by goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodriguez, but Ayew was spot-on with the retake ordered by referee Saoud Ali Al Athba after VAR review to make the score 3-1.

Bounedjah got into the scoring act for the second time after converting a penalty awarded for a foul on Ayew.

Al Duhail 2 vs Qatar SC 1

Date: Saturday, October 30, 2021

Venue: Al Gharafa Stadium

Al Duhail beat Qatar SC 2-1 at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Saturday.

Qatar SC were quick off the blocks and opened the scoring through Javi Martnez in the 15th minute.

Al Duhail struck back through Nam Tae-Hee (38th minute) and Michael Olunga (46th minute).

Al Duhail took their points tally to 21 with their seventh victory and Qatar SC stood on six points following their fourth defeat.

With Qatar national team coach Felix Sanchez watching from the stands, Al Duhail held ball possession for the first 10-odd minutes making inroads through Almoez Ali and Olunga, but Qatar SC’s backline remained alert to all moves.

In the 11th minute, Almoez drilled a curling right-footed shot from the edge of the Qatar SC box, but his shot sailed past the crossbar without causing any damage.

A minute later, Sebastian Soria found his Qatar SC team-mate Bashar Resan whose shot also sailed past a goalpost to the left of keeper Mohammed Al Bakri.

Qatar SC’s Spanish defensive midfielder Martinez broke the deadlock in the 15th minute when he headed home off a corner kick by Bashar.

Martinez produced a high jump to send the ball into the net after a slight deflection off Al Bakri’s hand.

Nam brought delight to the Al Duhail camp when he produced a long-range bullet to score the equalizer. After picking a throw-in, the Korean ran with the ball a few yards outside the Qatar SC box. With time and space at his disposal, he curled in a spectacular shot that sailed above keeper Jassim Al Hail’s head, hit the crossbar and smashed into the net.

Olunga helped Al Duhail jump to a 2-1 lead when he scored soon after the start of second half. After picking up a loose ball following a defensive lapse inside the Qatar SC box, Olunga swiveled and drilled a left-footed shot that went past the left of Qatar SC keeper and smashed into the net.

Al Shamal 4 vs Al Khor 0

Date: Saturday, October 30, 2021

Venue: Al Arabi Stadium

Al Shamal beat Al Khor 4-0 at the Al Arabi Stadium on Saturday.

A brace each by Jeison Escobar (36th and 54th minutes) and captain Bahaa Faisal (48th and 58th minutes) powered Al Shamal to a convincing win over Al Khor.

It was Al Shamal’s second win this season and they moved on to seven points, while Al Khor are still without a win and remained on four points.

After a few hits and misses, Escobar opened the scoring for Al Shamal. An assist from Ibrahim Al Nasr found Escobar unmarked and the Columbian striker deflected the ball into the net from close range in the 36th minute. 

Three minutes into the second half, Al Shamal doubled the lead when Bahaa, after an assist by Majed, drilled a shot into the net from inside the Al Khor box.

Escobar added the third one from close range – following a goalkeeper gaffe – on an assist by Bahaa – from the edge of the Al Khor box.

The Al Shamal skipper drilled a bullet from a direct free-kick for his side’s fourth goal.

Two minutes from the end, Bahaa charged his way into the Al Khor box, but his tap from close range was palmed away by the keeper.

WEEK 9 FIXTURES

Wednesday, November 3

Al Ahli vs Al Shamal

Al Rayyan vs Al Gharafa

Al Duhail vs Al Sadd

Thursday, November 4

Qatar SC vs Al Sailiya

Al Khor vs Al Arabi

Al Wakrah vs Umm Salal

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