FOOTBALL | Page 2 TENNIS | Page 10 It’s Real vs Andy Murray To Advertise here Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 City and dumps Raonic, Atletico vs Federer beaten Bayern by Tsonga Saturday, April 16, 2016 FOOTBALL Rajab 9, 1437 AH ‘Miracle’ Klopp GULF TIMES brings belief back to Liverpool SPORT Page 4 FOOTBALL/QSL SPOTLIGHT Qatar Sports Club Lekhwiya pip Mesaimeer By Sports Reporter enough heart in recent weeks to Doha suggest they’ll have enough to chal- lenge for promotion from the Qa- relegated aft er tar Gas League next season. Their ekhwiya rounded off their points tally, however, is the lowest Qatar Stars League season in the QSL since Al Sailiya took only with a 2-1 win over bottom four during the 2003/04 season. side Mesaimeer yesterday. Meanwhile, Al Khor ended their LLekhwiya had already sealed fourth season on a high, defeating Al place and yesterday’s victory only Gharafa 1-0 in a feisty game. Al Khor helped them bag three points with- grabbed the only goal of the tie ten Wakrah draw out any improvement in their posi- minutes from time through South tion. Korean defender Heo Jae-won, who Wakrah came out rejuvenated in the second half and a moment of magic from Mesaimeer took the lead early as scored his fi rst goal for the club. they aimed to claim only their sec- Jean Fernandez’s side where the midfielder Mouhcine Moutouali saw the Blue Waves take the lead in the 51st minute ond win of a miserable maiden sea- better team and created two clear son in the QSL. Erivelto Silva put cut chances in the fi rst half. First By Sports Reporter Qatar Sports Club with honours even at 0-0. Rodion Gacanin’s men in front in up Heo Jae-won’s acrobatic eff ort Doha players react after Wakrah came out rejuvenated in the the ninth minute with a header for brought a good save from Gharafa their draw with second half and a moment of magic his eighth goal of the season. keeper Yousef Hassan. Wakrah yesterday. from midfi elder Mouhcine Moutouali Lekhwiya huff ed and puff ed, and At the stroke of half-time, Bra- atar Sports Club have been saw the Blue Waves take the lead in fi nally got their equaliser in the 70th zilian striker Madson’s rasping free relegated to the Qatargas the 51st minute. A swift turn of pace minute. Mohammed Muntari lev- kick was pushed onto the post. The League for the fi rst time saw the Moroccan attacker breeze past elled the game with a fi ne run and ball fell kindly to the onrushing in their history following three Kings defenders before a com- shot. Waleed Mohyaden. However the de- Qa 1-1 draw with Al Wakrah yesterday posed fi nish past stopper Mohamed And Djamel Belmadi’s men fender lacked composure and sent evening. Daniel Carando’s header in Mubarak. grabbed a winner in the 87th minute his shot well over the bar; the fi rst the 54th minute wasn’t enough for Se- Qatar SC sprang into action, and when Afi f hammered the ball into half ended honors even at 0-0. bastio Lazaroni’s side to claw their way grabbed an equalizer just two minutes the roof of the net after a scramble Al Khor grabbed a deserved win- out of trouble despite Al Kharaitiyat later. A superb cross from Vecchio was inside the Mesaimeer box. The goal ner in the 80th minute. A sharp losing 3-2 to Umm Salal. met by the head of Carrando. His ef- was Afi f’s fi rst of the season. Waleed Mohyaden cross found its The Kings showed their attack- fort crushed onto the underside of the The result confi rmed fourth spot way to Heo Jae-won who was un- ing intent as early as the fi rst minute. bar, before being bundled in by Hassan for Lekhwiya, who will face champi- marked in the box. The South Ko- Carrando’s snap shot from outside the Dicho. ons Al Rayyan in the Qatar Cup. rean defender stabbed the ball into box was comfortably taken by Hassan With Al Kharaitiyat losing, Qatar SC Mesaimeer fi nish the campaign the back of the net, to the delight of Dicho in the Wakrah goal. Qatar SC just needed a winner to confi rm their with only six points but have shown head coach Jean Fernandez. slowly grew in confi dence in the fi rst status in the QSL for another season. half, but lacked the killer instinct in Lazaroni willed his side on to pour front of goal. forward in attack, and could have paid Indeed Carrando was guilty of miss- dividends had central defender Rafi k ing two golden opportunities to put his Halliche been able to stretch a little side in the lead in the space of a minute. further and poke the ball into the net First a pinpoint free-kick from Vecchio from a fi ne Emiliano Vecchio cross. found the Argentine hit-man, but his Despite pushing forward, the Kings poked eff ort drew a good save from where open on the counter attack, and Hassan Dicho. A minute later a Sha- Argentine striker Sasha could HAVE neen Ali cross fell to Carrando but his put the tie to bed had his fi erce shot tame shot was again claimed by Hassan found the back of the net and not rat- Dicho. tled the cross-bar. Midfi elder Emiliano Vecchio was Increasingly Qatar SC where looking pulling the strings in the Kings mid- desperate and piled players forward to fi eld, with the former Colo-Colo man get that one crucial goal. It proved to be knocking the ball into the Wakrah too little too late for the Kings, as the box. Unfortunately for him none of his referee blew the fi nal whistle sending team-mates were on hand to score the Qatar SC to the Qatar Gas League for vital opener, and the fi rst half ended the 2016/2017 season. BOTTOMLINE El Jaish take second spot Action from the QSL match between Lekhwiya and Mesaimeer yesterday. PROMISE aft er 2-2 Sadd stalemate Blatter ‘available to By Sports Reporter Doha Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira defend FIFA’ at US looks dejected after his side l Jaish took second place in failed to beat El Jaish yesterday. the Qatar Stars League after a corruption trial thrilling 2-2 draw with Al Sadd at the Qatar Sports Club Stadi- Eum. Al Rayyan had sealed the fi rst spot But on Thursday, the US judge AFP weeks ago, leaving other teams to battle Zurich overseeing the corruption scandal it out for lower placings. postponed setting a trial date until Yesterday, Abderrazak Hamdal- after prosecutors share the bulk of lah opened the scoring for El Jaish in ormer FIFA president Sepp evidence being collated in the mas- the thirteenth minute. The Moroc- Blatter told AFP yesterday sive investigation. can striker received a cross at the edge he “is available” to appear as Blatter, with European football of the box and then bulldozed his way a witness at a United States chief Michel Platini, was banned through the Al Sadd defence before Ftrial into mass corruption at world from all football activities for eight putting his shot away from inside the football’s ruling body. years in December over an infamous six-yard box. The goal takes Hamdal- “Yes. When they need me to de- two million Swiss franc ($2 million, lah’s tally to twenty one goals this sea- fend FIFA, I will be available,” Blat- 1.8 million euro) payment Platini son making him the top scorer in the ter said, when asked if he would be received in 2011 from the then-FIFA QSL. prepared to attend the trial into the president. Al Sadd then made a quick comeback sweeping bribery scandal that has The suspensions were cut to six in the second half scoring two goals in sparked an unprecedented crisis in years in February. quick succession. The equalising goal world football. Blatter, since replaced as FIFA came from captain Xavi Hernandez in Baghdad Bounedjah gave Al Sadd the right footed swerving shot gave Kha- during a corner kick and the ball fell US prosecutors were hoping the president by Gianni Infantino, is the 56th minute. Abdelkarim Hassan lead in the 75th minute. The Algerian lifa Ababacar, El Jaish’s goal keeper, no to him just inside the box before he hearing of 39 offi cials and marketing awaiting a date for an appeal against sent in a cross which Xavi slotted into striker received the ball outside the chance. smashed it into the goal on a half volley. executives accused of soliciting and his ban to the Court of Arbitration the goal from a narrow angle as he slid box dribbled it in, cut past a defender In the seventy eighth minute El Jaish The draw gave El Jaish 48 points af- receiving tens of millions of dollars for Sport (CAS). into the six-yard box. before sending it into the goal from in equalized through Lucas Mendes. The ter 26 matches, while Al Sadd fi nished in bribes and kickbacks would begin Platini was told yesterday his CAS Just moments after the fi rst goal, between two defenders. The powerful Brazilian defender was left unmarked third on 47. in February 2017. appeal will be heard on April 29. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, April 16, 2016 FOOTBALL DRAW REACTION Bayern wary of ‘monsters of It’s Real vs City and passion’ Atletico Atletico vs Bayern in CL semi-fi nals Atletico, winners over defending champions Barcelona in the quarter-finals, and Bayern have met once before in European action, in the 1974 final AFP “He’s perhaps one of the best Berlin coaches in the world.