Al Rayyan’s Sebastian Soria celebrates with teammate after scoring against Lekhwiya during the Qatar Stars League at the Abdullah Bin Khalifeh stadium yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

By Sports Reporter/Doha


Al Rayyan remained on top of the Qatar Stars league table after outclassing defending champions Lekhwiya 3-1 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifeh stadium yesterday.
After Msakna had given Lekhwiya the lead with an extra-time strike in the first half, Rayyan responded in splendid fashion the second half. Victor Javier Caceres equalised in the 76the minute, before Spaniard Sergio Garcia gave Rayyan the lead in 84th minute. An 88th minute strike from Sebastian Soria put the match beyond Lekhwiya. After seven matches, Rayyan has 21 points, four more than second-placed El Jaish. Lekhwiya were at seventh spot with 10 points.
The night’s other matches ended in a stalemate. Al Arabi and Al Sadd played out a 2-2 draw, while Al Gharafa has only themselves to blame after their goalless against Umm Salal at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium yesterday.
Despite the big names in Gharafa’s attacking line-up which included last season’s top scorer Alain Dioko, the home side couldn’t convert their numerous chances.
By the end of the match Gharafa ended up with 10 shots out of which six shots were on target but had nothing to show for it. Umm Salal on the other hand could muster only four shots on goal out of which only one was on target and they will have to thank their goalkeeper Baba Malik for coming away with one point after some desperate defending by the men in black.
Right from the start, in the fourth minute Dioko could have given his side the lead but his shot was blocked by the Salal’s keeper.
Then in the 19th minute it was the turn of Salal’s Ismael Mahmoud to be denied by the keeper. Mahmoud’s chance was a big one and could have completely changed the complexion of the game had his effort gone in.
After that attempt on goal however, it was all Gharafa, as they had two more chances in the first half. The first one fell for Masoud Shojaei in the 32nd minute but his shot was punched away by Salal keeper Malik. The midfielder Abdulaziz Abdulla also had his shot caught by Malik.
In the second half a similar scenario unfolded. In the 60th minute Shojaei fired in another shot but a diving punch by Malik kept his team in it.
Towards the end of the match Anas Mubrakak (81’) and substitute Moayad Faddily (89’) couldn’t convert their chances either. It was proving to be a frustrating night for the Cheetahs!
Gharafa have now failed to win in the last four matches and will need to go back to the drawing board to stop downward slide.