Qatari League: Al-Duhail wins the summit of the seventh round against Al-Ahly and moves away in the lead, and the defending champion jumps to third place

Mark
Written By Mark

Al-Duhail moved away at the top of the standings of the Qatari Football League “Areed Stars League” after winning the summit match against runner-up Al-Ahly with a clean goal, regaining its balance at the end of the seventh round of competitions, expanding the team that has won the title 8 times to 4 points.

As for Al-Sadd, which has won the tournament 17 times, it overtook Al-Shahania, which was hoping to continue its surprises. However, the best player in the 2023 Asian Cup, Akram Afif, continued his brilliance by making three goals that enabled the team of Spanish coach Felix Sanchez to rise to third place, while Al-Shahaniya suffered its fourth defeat. This season.

Saleh Al Rayyan, who won the title eight times, helped his supporters after crossing Al Khor in the first victory for his new coach, Younes Ali, while Al Arabi fell into the trap of Al Shamal, which scored five goals out of two thanks to the hat-trick of its Algerian top scorer, Baghdad Bounedjah, who was the only top scorer.

The victory made Al Rayyan fans happy, especially since the team will face a difficult test against its guest, Al-Ahly Saudi Arabia, tomorrow, Monday, in the third round of the Champions League.

As for the Qatar team, it inflicted a second defeat on Al-Wakra after turning the tables on them, giving its Moroccan coach Youssef Al-Sefri his first victory since taking over the job last September.

At Al Thumama Stadium, Al Duhail, seeking to regain the title it lost last season, settled for a goal from its Kenyan striker, Michael Olunga, to clinch the top spot in the round against runner-up Al Ahly, which suffered its first defeat this season after Croatian coach Igor Pescan’s team recorded its best start in years.

The team of French coach Christophe Galtier suffered in front of the opponent’s defense, which imposed close control on the keys to play, but Al-Ahly, on the other hand, was unable to avoid accepting the loss, so its score stopped at 14 points in second place.

Al-Duhail, which achieved its 12th victory over Al-Ahly in its last 15 matches, will face a new difficult test when it meets Al-Gharafa IV at the top of the eighth round on October 27th, and the same will be true for Al-Ahly, which will be a guest against Al-Rayyan on the 26th of the same month.

In the same way, Al Sadd, the defending champion, did not miss the opportunity to rise to the competition and jumped to third place thanks to its victory over Al Shahaniya by four goals to two.

Star Akram Afif’s teammates succeeded in scoring the opponent’s net less than two minutes after the starting whistle, giving coach Felix Sanchez’s team the advantage and control of the proceedings.

Thanks to the victory, Al-Sadd got rid of fifth place and became only two points away from Al-Ahly, the runner-up in the standings, while the six-point gap that separated it from Al-Duhail, the leader, remained.

Al-Sadd fans seemed satisfied with their team, which will play a continental test at its home stadium tomorrow, Monday, against Iranian Persepolis in the Champions League, in the second successive test against Iranian teams, after it succeeded in defeating Esteghlal in the last round with two clean goals.

Al Sadd maintained its advantage over Al Shahania after achieving its seventh victory in 9 matches in the tournament.

Al-Shamal was able to maintain its record without losing against Al-Arabi for the third confrontation between them in a row, with a wide victory with five goals for two thanks to the brilliance of its Algerian top scorer, Baghdad Bounedjah, who scored the first “hat-trick” with his new team after he moved to its ranks at the beginning of the current season, coming from Al-Sadd.

The two teams tied in their last two league matches, while Al-Arabi’s last victory was in February 2023, with a clean goal scored by Syrian Omar Al-Somah.

As for Al Rayyan, they reconciled with their fans by beating Al Khor by two goals to one after taking an early advantage thanks to friendly fire when Al Khor Ivorian striker Yohan Boly scored by mistake with his own net in the ninth minute before equalizing the score for his team. However, former Brazilian Corinthians striker Roger Guedes gifted his team the three points by scoring the winning goal. .

Al Rayyan was able to advance a step on the ranking ladder by climbing to eighth place after raising its score to 8 points, while Al Khor, which remained the only team in the league without any victory, maintained the last place in the standings after accepting its fourth defeat this season, stopping its score at 3 points.

In another match, the Qatar team knew how to turn the tables on Al Wakrah after coming from a goal down to win a double, so the team recorded its second victory this season, which made it advance to tenth place.

Qatar took advantage of Al-Wakrah’s numerical deficiency, which played with ten players since the 25th minute as a result of the expulsion of its defender, Mahdi Ali.

The Qatar team was close to suffering its fifth defeat this season after falling behind by a goal, but it was able to thwart its rival’s hopes with a brace scored by Issa Ahmed and Khaled Mahmoudi.

The victories of coach Ali Rahma Al Marri’s team stopped, and it accepted its second defeat this season, falling to fifth place after its score was fixed at 11 points on goal difference, ahead of Al Gharafa, which is fourth.

Al-Gharafa regained its winning streak in the seventh round of the “I Want Stars League” competitions after coming from behind against Umm Salal with a goal to win by three in a match that witnessed the former Spanish Real Madrid striker Joselu scoring his third goal this season.

Portuguese coach Pedro Martinez’s team was able to overcome its loss to Al Sadd in the last round to rise to fourth place with 11 points on goal difference from Al Wakrah, fifth.

Al-Gharafa’s victory comes before it plays the continental test the day after tomorrow, Tuesday, against its guest, Al-Wasl, UAE, at Al-Bayt Stadium, in the third round of the Champions League.

As for the team of French coach Patrice Carteron, it suffered its third defeat this season, stopping its score at 10 points, falling to seventh place on goal difference from Al-Shamal, sixth.

In terms of “digital statistics”, the seventh round of the “I Want to Stars League” competitions saw 24 goals scored, at a rate of 4 goals per match, as the scoring rate declined after 26 goals were scored in the last round.

The seventh round witnessed victory in 6 matches, compared to the absence of a draw, and only Al-Duhail emerged with a clean sheet.

The match between Al-Shamal and Al-Arabi scored the highest number of goals (7 goals), and the match between Al-Sadd and Al-Shahania (6 goals). Yellow cards were shown 28 times, while one red card was recorded, which went to Al-Wakrah defender Mahdi Ali.

Al-Khor also remains the only team that has not achieved any victory this season so far.

Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah succeeded in scoring his first hat-trick this season against Al-Arabi, while Dutchman Petros Ammer Svoort, Al-Shahania player, scored an accidental goal against his team against Al-Sadd, and Ivorian striker Johan Boly, Al-Khor striker, also did against his team against Al-Rayyan.

During the round, one penalty kick was awarded, scored by Spaniard Joselu “Al Gharafa” against Umm Salal.

As for the overall statistics, 42 matches have been played so far (33 victories and 9 draws), and 144 goals were scored during 42 matches, at a rate of 3.4 goals per match. The yellow card was raised 174 times, compared to 6 red cards recorded, and 18 penalty kicks (11 scored and 7 scored). “Wasted.”

Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah, the Al-Shamal striker, remained the top scorer after his hat-trick against Al-Arabi, with 9 goals, while three players scored six goals each: Spanish Rafa Mujica (Al-Sadd), Michael Olunga (Al-Duhail), and Croatian Antonio Mansi (Umm Salal).

Behind them were Edmilson Junior (Al Duhail) and Ricardo Gomez (Al Wakrah) with five goals each.

Three players scored 4 goals: German Julian Draxler (Al-Ahly), Roger Guedish (Al-Rayyan), and Omar Sekou (Al-Ahly).

Al-Duhail topped the team standings with 18 points, then Al-Ahly came in second place with 14 points, Al-Sadd third with 12 points, Al-Gharafa fourth with 11 points on goal difference from Al-Wakrah fifth, Al-Shamal sixth with 10 points on goal difference from Umm Salal seventh, then Al-Rayyan in place. Eighth with 9 points, followed by Al Arabi in ninth place with 7 points, Qatar in tenth place with 7 points, Al-Shahaniya in eleventh place with 5 points, and Al-Khor in twelfth and last place with three points.

The matches of the eighth round of the league will open on October 26, and in the first match, Al-Shahaniya will meet with Al-Shamal at Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium, while Umm Salal will face its counterpart Al-Khor at the Grand Hamad Stadium and host Al-Rayyan at Ahmed bin Ali Al-Ahly Stadium.

The round will conclude on the 27th of the same month, with Al Wakrah facing defending champion Al Sadd at Al Janoub Stadium, while leaders Al Duhail will clash with Al Gharafa at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium at the top of the round, and Al Arabi will play with Qatar at Al Thumama Stadium.