Duhail Wrap up Title with Plenty to Spare
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NNBABA | Page 5 TTENNISENNIS | Page 6 Celtics in Serena makes play-off s, a winning Warriors beat start in return San Antonio to WTA action Saturday, March 10, 2018 FOOTBALL Jumada II 22, 1439 AH Mourinho must GULF TIMES stop Salah to keep Liverpool at bay SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL/QNB STARS LEAGUE DUHAIL WRAP UP TITLE WITH PLENTY TO SPARE They are yet to record a single loss in 20 domestic league and three AFC Champions League matches this season, no mean achievement for the team and their coach Djamel Belmadi, whose legend keeps on growing each year By Anil John Doha hat’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as Wsweet. That’s a very famous line from Shake- speare’s epic love story Romeo and Juliet, but even at the risk of sounding clichéd, that sentiment also holds true for Al Du- hail who won the QNB Stars League yes- terday with two matches and plenty of fuel in the tank to spare. The only element missing from the plot was some drama. In that respect, there was nothing Shakespearean in the way Al Duhail, who were previously known as Lekhwiya, went about their business Duhail coach Djamel Belmadi congratulates his players after his team the whole season, with nary a late twist defeated Kharaitiyat 5-0 to win the QNB Stars League title. or even a minor stumble roughening their path to the title. They are yet to record a single loss in 20 domestic league and three AFC Champi- ons League matches this season, no mean achievement for the team and their coach Djamel Belmadi, whose legend keeps on growing each year, this being his fourth title – the three others coming when the team played under their former name: Lekhwiya. “I am indeed very happy with my team’s show. Every player played his part. They had the confi dence and they never slackened,” Belmadi, the former Ligue 1 and English Premier League player said after his team had seen off Kharaitiyat 5-0 yesterday. “We knew Al Sadd were very close on our heels, but when we beat them last week we were pretty much certain the ti- tle was ours for the taking,” the Algerian added. Ahead of the match, Belmadi had grumbled about the hectic schedule for his team because of their involvement SPOTLIGHT also in the top Asian competition. “The exhaustion is not only physical, it is also aff ecting mentally. The play- ers are in action every three or four days. We have to deal well with this situation in the coming games,” he had said at his pre-match press conference, although Al Duhail celebrate one of their goals against Al Kharaitiyat yesterday. PICTURES: Shaji T Al Arabi see his team’s emphatic win would have con- siderably eased his worries. Ismaeel Mohamed (36). For the record, Duhail, after strug- Strikes by Youssef El Arabi (56) and STANDINGS gling to break free for 25 minutes in the Youusef Msakni (82, 84) then sealed the fi rst half, fi rst struck through Mohamed outcome of the match and the title. Team MP W D L F A D P off Rayyan Musa (26) and then consolidated through Only Al Sadd could have derailed Du- Al Duhail 20 17 3 0 77 23 +54 54 By Sports Reporter Al Kharaitiyat and Al Markhiya in Al Sadd 20 15 1 4 59 23 +36 46 Doha the previous weeks, moved on to 21 Al Rayyan 20 12 3 5 48 36 +12 39 points. Al Rayyan remained on 39 Al Gharafa 20 9 5 6 39 31 +8 32 points. Umm Salal 20 8 7 5 30 31 -1 31 l Arabi completed a hat- Al Rayyan enjoyed more posses- Al Sailiya 20 7 4 9 35 37 -2 25 trick of victories when sion (56 per cent), but found the Al Ahli 19 6 4 9 24 34 -10 22 they defeated Al Rayyan going tough. Their players were vis- Al Arabi 20 5 6 9 26 39 -13 21 A3-1 in Week 20 of the QNB ibly tired as they had played against Qatar SC 19 5 4 10 20 40 -20 19 Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the third Al Khor 19 5 3 11 21 36 -15 18 yesterday. round of AFC Champions League on Al Kharitiyath 20 3 4 13 25 51 -26 13 Al Arabi’s Brazilian midfi elder Tuesday. Al Arabi thus compensated Diego Jardel was the star of the for their 2-4 loss to Al Rayyan when night by netting two goals (54th they clashed in the fi rst phase. hail’s title bid on their debut appearance in the 12th minute yesterday but Khoukhi and 90+3), and providing assist for Indeed, it was a battle between in the tournament, but for that to happen defl ected the ball into his own goal two the other scored by Kwame Karikari the fans as much as it was between they needed to not only beat Umm Salal minutes after the restart to help Umm (20th). the players when the two teams with yesterday corresponding with a loss for Salal draw level. Abderrazaq Hamdallah gave Al the most passionate and loyal fans Al Duhail. Umm Salal then dealt a body blow to Rayyan’s reply in the 73rd minute by in Qatar football faced off . Al Arabi But neither happened as Al Sadd suf- Al Sadd’s chances with Oussama Darragi converting from the spot. The pen- players saluted their supporters af- fered a shock 2-1 defeat – an own goal by netting the winner in the 66th. alty was awarded when Al Arabi’s ter the game. Boualem Khoukhi perhaps coming as a The Wolves had dominated the game in Yasin Yaghoub handled the ball in- Karikari opened the scoring by metaphor for the Wolves’ title-less run the fi rst session but a combination of bad side the box. heading in a Jardel corner. The from 2012-13 when they won their 13th luck and poor fi nishing ensured Umm Hamdallah thus stayed third in Ghana forward had another chance and last league crown. Salal kept themselves in the hunt for a the list of top scorers with 17 goals. when his shot from the top of the The Al Sadd match was an early kick- top-four fi nish. There was a tiff inside the goal post box went wide in the fi rst half, off and the fact they lost meant they had Meanwhile, Al Gharafa stayed fourth between the Moroccan striker and where Al Rayyan did not create any no interest left in following the Duhail with a 3-0 demolition of Al Sailiya at the Al Arabi goalkeeper Masoud Zeraei worthwhile opportunities. vs Kharaitiyat encounter. Their fate was Al Ahli Stadium. following the penalty kick and both The Lions seemed to have lost the sealed anyway and although a second Attacking midfi elder Wesley Sneijder were shown yellow card for fi ghting plot from the beginning. place in the standings doesn’t seem all was the star of the match. He scored in for the dead ball. Jardel’s fi rst goal was set up by that bad, only the team in that position the 25th and 90th minutes, and in the in- Jardel took his tally to six goals Khalfan Ibrahim, while his second, Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira is a picture of frustration as he watches his team go how much it hurts. terim had set up Mehdi Taremi to strike in this season’s league competi- that came in stoppage time, was a down against Umm Salal. Hassan Ahmed gave Al Sadd the lead in the 44th. tion and Al Arabi, who had defeated solo eff ort. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, March 10, 2018 FOOTBALL EPL COMMENT Mourinho slams coaches turned pundits over Mourinho must Man United criticism AFP just one of his 23 goals against a Manchester, United Kingdom team currently in the top 10 of the division. The United manager remains ose Mourinho has hit out fi rmly impressed by the striker, stop Salah to keep again at media pundits – in- however, and Lukaku revealed ear- cluding Gary Neville – for lier in the week that he considers their criticism of Manches- himself a “sergeant” for his man- Jter United and star players such as ager on the fi eld. Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez. And the United manager sug- ‘Lukaku trust’ gested that their own failures in “I had a laugh with him, that’s management make them unquali- fi ne, he’s an important guy for me, Liverpool at bay fi ed to off er such views. one of the guys that I trust, I love Neville has been a repeated the character,” said Mourinho. ‘We have to do more if we want to win as Liverpool is a team with great quality’ critic of his former club’s manager “Against Crystal Palace there and, during United’s dramatic vic- was nothing that happened after AFP tory at Crystal Palace on Monday, our third goal but I told him ‘cen- Manchester, United Kingdom in which they trailed 2-0 before tral defender’. So he was playing recovering to win 3-2, did not hold central defender in a back fi ve with back in his comments. (Chris) Smalling and (Victor) Lin- anchester United “I’ve never seen a Jose Mour- delof because I couldn’t make any boss Jose Mourinho inho team as ineffi cient as this,” more changes.