Lekhwiya's Nam Tae-hee is held by Al Shahaniya goalkeeper Khalifa al-Dosari. The match witnessed several altercations between players.

By Sports Reporter/Doha


“It ain't over 'til it's over”, American baseball legend Yogi Berra once remarked, giving sports journalists a lifesaver of a quote to fall back during trying times.
That was the case yesterday in Doha after a gallant Al Shahaniya gatecrashed Lekhwiya’s party with a thrilling 3-3 draw to delay their title celebrations. The result means Lekhwiya will have to wait until April 12 when they meet Al Ahli to wrap up their fourth league title in five years.
Leading Al Sadd by seven points (55-48) with three matches to go, Lekhwiya needed to win yesterday but came up against a side who threw the kitchen sink at them.
Languishing in 13th place and fighting to stave off relegation, Al Shahaniya twice enjoyed the lead before allowing Lekhwiya, reduced to 10 men midway through the second session, to clinch a draw, thanks to a 90th minute strike by Yousuf Msakni.
Shahaniya, who only had 19 points from 23 matches with just five victories, are fighting a battle with Al Wakrah for survival in the top flight. Al Shamal, who have just 10 points from 24 games, were relegated last month after it became evident they had no chance of getting out of the danger zone.
It was clear that Lekhwiya took underdogs Al Shahaniya for granted and paid the price for it in the form of a few nerve wracking days leading up to their match against Al Ahli next week.
Al Shahaniya showed tremendous intent right from the outset. Their pace certainly surprised the Lekhwiya defence and goalkeeper Amine Lecomte was called into action a few times in the initial minutes.
But Lecomte had no answer when Al Shahaniya were awarded a penalty in the 22nd minute after Mahmoud Attiyah was fouled by Dame Traore. Luciano Vazquez, who took, the spot kick, easily beat goalkeeper Lecomte with a shot to the lower right corner of the net.
A shell-shocked Lekhwiya struggled to come to terms with the setback but the fact they were more experienced and had better pedigree meant they were always a threat.
And sure enough they found the equaliser only two minutes after conceding the lead with a strike from inside the penalty area by Tunisian Msakni, who fired the ball past Shahaniya goalkeeper Khalifa al-Dosari.
Lekhwiya survived several close shaves before they went ahead in the 39th minute for the first time in the match.
After Al Shahaniya failed with several attempts to clear an imminent threat to their goal, the ball fell onto captain Luiz Junior’s path and the Lekhwiya skipper’s powerful volley from outside the box beat goalkeeper al-Dosari all ends up.
But Al Shahaniya found the equaliser, somewhat luckily this time, when a shot by Fahad al-Balushi in the 44th minute took a deflection and wrong-footed Lecomte before trickling into the net.
Al-Balushi struck his second goal immediately after resumption when Luiz Junior failed to control the ball off a long goal kick by al-Dosari and al-Balushi scored with a lob.
However, Msakni’s strike in the 90th minute rescued a point, and a bit of honour, for Lekhwiya.
Meanwhile Al Sadd thrashed Al Gharafa 5-1 to keep their slim title chances alive.
Two goals Hamza Haji and strikes by Yousuf Ahmed, Muriqui and former Brazilian player Grafite clinched the issue for Al Sadd. Claudiu Keseru pulled one back for Al Gharafa.
In a late match, Qatar Sports Club dented Al Wakrah’s chances of avoiding relegation with a 2-1 victory.