Shehata’s strike gives Al Ahli win over Umm Salal
AL Ahli rode on Hazem Shehata’s strike in the 56th minute to beat mm Salal 1-0 in Week 17 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Al Ahli Stadium on Tuesday.
Reduced to 10-man for around 30 minutes following red card to Jassem Al Sharshani, Al Ahli defended well late in the match to seal their eighth victory.
Al Ahli now have 26 points, while mm Salal remained on 15 points following their eighth defeat.
The Nebojsa Jovoviccoached side started putting pressure on mm Salal with repeated attacks and, in the 12th minute, Malick had to make another diving save when Mohamed Diame almost headed the ball in, off a long free-kick by captain Omid Ebrahimi.
In the 26th minute, Al Ahli defender Shane Lowry stopped the ball from entering an open goal after keeper
azan Naim, while trying to catch a long free-kick, collided with mm Salal’s Ismail Mahmoud.
Captain Lawrence Quaye picked the ball from the edge and lobbed it towards the goal, but Lowry reached in time to thwart him.
Lowry, however, conceded a free-kick near the box after a rash challenge against Kayke Rodrigues, whose attempt from the left flew over the right corner 10 minutes before half-time.
Shehata attempted to score from a close range in stoppage time of the first session, but failed to find the mark.
After exchange of attacks in the second half, Al Ahli broke the deadlock. Shehata, assisted by maru, fired a shot on the left corner and the ball was too fast for Malick to stop.
Al Ahli got charged up after taking the lead and pressurised mm Salal with aggressive football. But they suffered a setback after Al Sharshani received his second yellow card of the match for wasting time while leaving the pitch in a 66th-minute substitution.
In the 87th minute, Al Ahli goalkeeper had to be treated after he punched away a bullet from Ismail Mahmoud. mm Salal fired on all cylinders for an equaliser, but Al Ahli held their nerve till the end to secure full points.
Al Sailiya-Al Khor in 1-1 draw
Meanwhile, Al Sailiya and Al Khor played out a 1-1 draw at the same venue.
Ramin Rezaien scored for Al Sailiya in the fourth minute, a lead that was nullified by Rafael Dos Santos in the 77th minute.
Al Sailiya and Al Khor are on 23 and 14 points respectively. It was a valuable point for Al Khor in their bid to stay away from the relegation zone.
Al Khor had slightly more of possession in the first half, but it was Al Sailiya who attacked more. The Peregrines received a big advantage with an early goal and Al Khor struggled to recover from it.
Iranian Ramin, on loan from Al Duhail, took Al Sailiya ahead with an opportunistic strike that beat Al Khor goalkeeper Baba Djibril hands down despite diving to his right.
Close to the half-hour mark, Al Sailiya came close to scoring in quick succession off a free-kick taken by Nadir Belhadj from the left. First, Ramin headed against the crossbar. Then, it was Tiago Bezerra’s turn to do the same and finally Djibril blocked the rebound shot from Ahmed Sebaie.
Tiago too had his chance once during the session, but he shot wide of the target.
For Al Khor, uki Kobayashi’s shot was collected by Al Sailiya goalkeeper Claude Amine though he fumbled with first collection. Al Khor’s Giannis Fetfatzidid tried to make inroads into the rival goal, but could not be successful.
Al Khor increased their efforts in the second half and their repeated attempts bore fruit as Rafael Dos Santos struck home a free-kick with full force, giving no chance to goalkeeper Amine.
Al Khor came close again in the 85th minute. However, Amine collected a bicycle kick by Fahad Al Bayati from close range.
It may be recalled that Al Khor and Al Sailiya had played out a goalless draw in the first leg of 2020-21 season QNB Stars League.
The third match of the day between Al Wakrah and Qatar SC ended in a goalless draw with the two teams sharing points.
Qatar SC now have a tally of 28 points and Al Wakrah 15 points after 17 rounds of action.