DOHA (Qatar): Al Sailiya upset defending champions Al Duhail 2-1 in the eighth round of Qatar Stars League on Tuesday.
Goals from Mohanad Ali (20minute) and Serigne Mbodji (38th minute) powered Al Sailiya to their third win.
Al Duhail’s late goal came through Eduardo Rodrigues (Dudu) in stoppage time (90+4).
Al Sailiya now have 11 points, while Al Duhail remained on 12 points following their fourth defeat.
Al Duhail’s Ramin Rezaein, stationed close to Al Sailiya goalmouth, swivelled in the presence of two markers, but had little power on his shot to score in just the third minute of the match when Al Duhail had already won two corners.
In the 11th minute, Edmilson Junior, after receiving a short pass off a corner, dribbled past an Al Sailiya defender and then unleashed a powerful shot that beat keeper Amine Lecomte with speed, but missed the crossbar by whisker.
In the 20th minute, in their first proper attack on Al Duhail goal, Al Sailiya scored. Mohanad pounced on a loose deflection following a corner kick and slipped in the ball past keeper Mohammed Al Bakri. It was the Iraqi striker’s sixth goal of the season.
Al Sailiya jumped to a 2-0 lead with a well-placed header by Mbodji off a corner kick by Nadir Belhadj. The towering Senegalese defender jumped high over his marker and connected well for his team’s second goal on the swinging corner kick taken by Belhadj.
In the 66th minute of what was a fast-paced match, Abdelrahman Mohamed of Al Duhail nearly pulled off a goal, off a neat cross from Mohanad, but his deflection from close range hit the post with Al Sailiya keeper well beaten.
A minute later, Al Duhail’s substitute Mohammed Muntari also missed the target in similar fashion, misdirecting his header from close range.
In the dying seconds of the match, Eduardo tapped the ball into the net from close range for Al Duhail’s consolation goal.
