The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar - Al Shahania yesterday delivered a spirited performance to shock football giants Al Rayyan 3-0 at Grand Hamad Stadium. It was just the fifth win for Al Shahaniya this season as Al Rayyan - placed fourth on the points table - failed to add to their eight victories.
Rebin Ghareeb Solaka opened the scoring in just the 6th minute when he slotted the ball into the Al Rayyan net following an indirect free-kick. Al Rayyan keeper Fahad Younis Baker should have kept the ball out on the first attempt but Solaka deflected the lose ball home.
In the 34th minute, Kesse Jean Amangoua tapped down a loopy long-range cross in front of him and then smartly picked out Al Kuwari with a neat cross.
Al Kuwari despite being under pressure from an Al Rayyan defender, wasted little time and fired to the right of the keeper from the edge of the box. The pace on the shot beat the outstretched hand of keeper Baker as the ball crashed into the net.
In probably the most daring of solo runs this season, Saad Hussain of Al Shahania put his 3-0 up three minutes into the second half. After picking up a short pass near the half line, Hussain ran all the way into the Al Rayyan box, lured keeper Baker out of his position and curled the ball into the net with his right foot to cap his stunning solo effort with a goal that left the opposition shell-shocked.
Ibrahim Masoud (46) and Gonzalo Viera of Al Rayyan were booked with yellow cards by referee Abdulla Ali Athba in what Round 18 of the regular football season.
Prior to their win yesterday, Al Shahania this season have beaten Al Kharaitiyat twice (week 2 and 13), Al Sailiya (week 9) and Qatar SC (week 5) once each.
Earlier, bottom placed Al Kharaitiyat beat former champions Al Gharafa 3-0 with a clinical display of football at Al Khor Stadium. It was bottom-placed Al Kharaitiyat’s third win of the season from 18 matches this season.
Al Kharaitiyat opened the scoring through Muhammed Razzaq who made the most of a goalkeeper’s blunder in the 30th minute. Keeper Yousof Hassan Ali, an U-23 player, showed his lack of experience under pressure when let slip a loopy cross that he had initially caught.
The ball slipped out of Ali’s hands and made its way to Razzaq stationed nearby. Razzaq quickly produced a left-footed drive to sent the ball into the net. In the second half Romanian import Valentin Marius Lazar made it 2-0 for Al Kharaitiyat with a left-footed shot from close range.
Substitute Abdulaziz Rashid Al Ansari found Lazar with a low ball from inside the Al Gharafa box and the Romanian midfielder easily slotted the ball into the net a minute after the hour mark.
In the 70th minute, the Lazar-Al Ansari combo worked like a well-oiled machine for Al Kharaitiyat’s third goal of the match.
Lazar charged towards the Al Gharafa box from the left flank and chipped in a low ball from the edge of the box. Al Ansari standing just a few feet away from the goalmouth deflected the cross into the net with keeper Ali in no position to kill the move.
It was Al Gharafa’s 9th loss of the season.
Ilias Hassani (56), Mohamed Salam Aamir (63) and Ahmed Sufyan (69th) of Al Kharaitiyat were booked for reckless tackles by referee Khamis Mohammed Al-Marri.