Time to put on a show, says Morgan as England take on SA at Cape Town in T20I FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2020 PAGE 13 Last-gasp penalty sees Al Ahli hold Rayyan 1-1; QSC blank Al Arabi 3-0 Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez during the press conference ahead of TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK Incidentally, Belaili had net- his team’s QNB Stars League match against Umm Salal on Friday. DOHA ted the all-important goal in that match. In the process, The A last-gasp penalty strike saw Kings had jumped from the bot- Our goal is to keep Al Ahli hold Al Rayyan 1-1 in tom of the table to eighth posi- thrilling Week 7 round of the tion then. QNB Stars League at the Al On the other hand, Al Ara- on winning, says Ahli Stadium on Thursday. The bi’s woes compounded, having draw saw them stay second to lost 1-4 to Al Sadd in the Qatar Al Sadd in the standings with 16 Derby in Week 6. Al Sadd coach Xavi points to their credit. Belaili and Anthony Ok- Earlier, Qatar Sports Club potu were at the helm of Qa- TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK the lineup, but everybody is scored a 3-0 win over Al Arabi tar SC’s offensives, the former DOHA training really well and this is at the Qatar SC Stadium to playing a composed game and the way to compete,” the mid- move up the table to sixth spot the latter impressing with his AL Sadd Coach Xavi Hernan- field great said. with nine points. speed and power. dez has said his team would On the other hand, Umm In the third clash of the day, Okpotu came very close to look to keep their winning run Salal are last in the table with Al Wakrah scored a 3-1 win over scoring once, but for a goalline going when they take on Umm four points. They have only a Al Sailiya to be fifth on the table save by Al Arabi defender Marc Salal in the QNB Stars League victory (1-0 against Qatar SC) with ten ponts. Martinez even as goalkeeper on Friday. and goalless draw against Al The much looked forward Mahmoud Ibrahim had left his Al Sadd are the table top- Khor to show for their efforts. to tie between Al Rayyan and charge in pursuit of a rescue act. pers with 16 points. They are Askar said the pressure is Ahl saw Franck Kom put Al Al Arabi mainly had Aron also the only unbeaten team on Sadd to win the match, as Rayyan ahead in the 77th min- Gunnarsson’s aerial shot and so far in the tournament. The they are heavy favourites “We ute, the lead that was neutral- Abdulaziz Al Ansari’s weak shot Wolves have scored the most were disappointed after our ised by Al Ahli’s Nabil El Zhar to show for their efforts in the number of goals (24) as well. loss to Al Ahli in the last round, (90+5 penalty). first half. But Xavi was wary of but we will continue to work to The signature match of The opening goal came bottom-placed Umm Salal’s achieve our goal this season, Week 7, an encounter between when a penalty was awarded counter-attacking game and which is difficult though. We clubs with great history and rich against Al Arabi’s Jassem called their Moroccan coach go into the match without pres- tradition in Qatar football, had Jaber’s foul on Belaili and the Ben Askar ‘a fighter’. sure because the pressure is on all ingredients of a thriller. latter himself converted from “Umm Salal are a deter- Al Sadd. We are thinking about Possession was almost the spot. mined side and their coach is the points and we will see how equal, as both sides fought it Changing ends, Qatar SC a fighter. I think they will find things will go,” he said. out. continued from where they solutions through counter-at- “We are facing the lead- They attacked from the left off. They went 2-0 up af- tacks. We are the favourites to ers and the best team in Asia word go, but a goal eluded the Action from the Al Ahli vs Al Rayyan QNB Stars League match played at the Al Ahli Stadium on Thursday. ter Belaili was spot-on with a win. But as usual, we have to whose coach is doing a great opening session. penalty, awarded after he was show our true level on the field job. But as I kept saying, we In the first half, Gabriel tripped by substitute Moham- to collect the three points,” the focus on ourselves and I am Mercado sent his shot wide, med Bader Sayyar. Sadd coach said yesterday. happy that we have a good Abdulaziz Hatem was thwarted Jimena then headed in a “We have a great group group of players. For me, this by Al Ahli goalkeeper Ivanildo corner kick deep into stoppage of players and we are going is important because everyone Rodriguez and Kom headed time to seal the issue in Qatar through a good period, but we is waiting for good results and wide of the target for Al Rayyan, SC’s favour. have to keep going like this I think this is not difficult,” who continued to miss the ser- and keep winning. I try to ro- Umm Salal coach added. vices of their ace player Yacine Al Sailiya 1 Al Wakrah 3 tate the players because eve- Brahimi through illness. Al Wakrah prevailed over ryone deserves to play and we Al Duhail face Kharaitiyat For Al Ahli, Abdulrasheed Al Sailiya at the Al Ahli Stadi- have a large group and every Meanwhile, Al Duhail will Ibrahim, Mohammed Di- um with Mohamed Benyettou player is important to us. The face Al Kharaitiyat on Friday. ame and Shane Lowry were (49th minute), Omar Ali (52nd levels of players are close, and The reigning champions Al off-target. minute) and Cristian Ceballos we have outstanding young- Duhail have had a disappoint- Both teams sustained the (75th minute) scoring for Al sters and professionals,” the ing campaign so far as they are momentum in the second half. Wakrah, while Abdulqadir Il- Spaniard added. placed fifth with nine points. Al Ahli’s Ali Qaderi had a yas (90+1) pulled one back for Sadd goalkeeper Saad al- The Red Knights, coached goal disallowed for offside in Al Sailiya. Dosari returned to training by Sabri Lamouchi, lost to the 66th minute when he was with the first team, after re- Al Gharafa in the last round. on hand to send in a rebound QNB Stars League Standings covering from a head injury he Al Kharaitiyat, coached by off the left upright after Nabil had suffered during the Qatar Yousef Adam, are ninth in the shot first. Pos Club M W L D GF GA GD Pts national team’s friendly against table with six points. Much to Al Ahli’s dismay, an 1. Al Sadd 6 5 0 1 24 5 19 16 Ghana in October. Al-Dosari. In another match, Al unmarked Kom took Al Rayyan 2. Al Ahli 7 5 1 1 11 9 2 16 “The return of Saad Al Gharafa face Al Khor at home. ahead by taking advantage off Qatar SC players celebrate one of their three goals against Al Arabi at 3. Al Gharafa 6 4 2 0 12 8 4 12 Dossari to training after his in- Gharafa are third with 12 an assist by Yohan Boli. the Qatar SC Stadium on Thursday. 4. Al Rayyan 7 3 2 2 9 6 3 11 jury makes me very happy. He points and are on a high, hav- When it looked like Al Rayy - 5. Al Wakrah 7 3 3 1 9 7 2 10 completed his recovery pro- ing beaten Duhail in the last an would seal an important vic- Assistant Referee. And Nabil penalty) and Alejandro Jimena cess well,” said Xavi. round. It may be recalled that tory came the breakthrough converted from the spot. (90+5) scored the goals as Qa- 6. Qatar SC 7 3 4 0 7 7 0 9 “We need everybody: we Gharafa, coached by Serb Slav- deep into stoppage time. Al tar SC took their points tally to 7. Al Duhail 6 3 3 0 8 9 -1 9 need Saad, Meshaal Barsh- isa Jokanovic, had finished a Ahli’s substitute Nasser Khal- Qatar SC 3 Al Arabi 0 nine, while Al Arabi stood on 8. Al Sailiya 7 2 3 2 9 13 -4 8 am, Jehad Mohamed, Yousuf creditable fourth last season. fan was fouled by Mohammed Qatar SC blanked Al Arabi five points. 9. Al Kharaitiyat 6 2 4 0 5 13 -8 6 al-Baloushi; we need all the They had recently reached the Alaaeldin and referee Abdulla 3-0 with new recruit Youcef Be- Qatar SC thus continued 10. Al Arabi 7 1 4 2 8 16 -8 5 goalkeepers. It depends on the semi-finals of Ooredoo Cup by Ali Athba pointed to the spot, a laili scoring a brace (38th-min- their good run, having beaten 11. Al Khor 6 0 2 4 3 5 -2 4 performance in training. Now, beating reigning champions Al decision confirmed by the Video ute penalty and 87th-minute Al Wakrah in the last round. 12. Umm Salal 6 1 4 1 2 9 -7 4 it’s difficult for me to choose Sadd 4-2.