Lekhwiya’s Chico Flores (centre) in action during their Qatar Stars League match against Al Sadd yesterday. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

By Sports Reporter/Doha


Lekhwiya seem to have put their recent poor run behind them with a convincing 4-2 victory over traditional rivals Al Sadd in the Qatar Stars League yesterday.
Having broken their losing streak with a win over Al Khor last week, the four-times champions struck thrice in the second half to bounce back from a goal down and record only their fifth win in 10 matches.
After enduring a torrid early season which saw them suffer four unlikely defeats, Lekhwiya now are sixth with 16 points and could at least hope to manoeuvre their way to the top four, if not challenge leaders Al Rayyan for the title.
With a decent crowd watching at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, it was hosts Al Sadd who drew first blood in the first half when Nadir Belhadj found the net with a lucky strike.
Brazilian Muriqui (Luiz Guilherme Silva) appeared to have dragged the ball into the field after it had crossed the sideline before passing it to Belhadj, who unleashed a long-ranger which bamboozled the Lekhwiya defenders who were busy expecting the referee to call out.
The 30th minute goal put Al Sadd in the driving seat but they could only hold on to their lead for 10 minutes before Mohamed Muntari restored parity for Lekhwiya with a powerful shot from the top of the penalty after Luiz Martin had split the defence with an intelligent pass.
Lekhwiya now had the momentum but kept missing chances with Muntari and Youssef Msakni firing blanks from close range.
However, Msakni made amends for his lapse a few moments earlier with a robust run down the left in the 56th minute that ended with a thunderous drive from outside 25 yards that gave Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb no chance.
But the defending champions’ joy proved short-lived as Al Sadd pulled level two minutes later with Belhadj slotting the ball past Lekhwiya goalkeeper Claude Amine after receiving a pass from Xavi.
Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi was driven to despair as Lekhwiya kept missing chances after that, but the smile on his face returned when Chico Flores found the back of the net with a fine header off a corner in the 83rd minute.
And when Korean pro Nam Tae-hee blasted a penalty home in the 93rd minute after Msakni was brought down, the entire Lekhwiya camp erupted in joy.
Meanwhile, Al Khor registered their second win of the season after they defeated Mesaimeer 2-1 at the Al Arabi Stadium. Julio Cesar and Madison were the goal scorers for Khor whilst Mohanad Adnan got the consolation strike for Mesaimeer.
This was a match between two teams trying to avoid relegation. Before this match there was just two points separating the two. It was a great chance for Mesaimeer to get off the bottom of the table but finding the back of the net has been tough for Gacanin’s men this season.
The first half ended goalless with neither side showing enough to register a goal.
Straight after the restart however, Mesaimeer’s Adnan brought down Cesar inside the box. The Brazilian dusted himself off, picked up the ball and elected to take the penalty kick, scoring with a calm chip down the middle.
In the 79th minute, Madison ran down the right flank, weaved his way into the box and fired towards goal. It wasn’t a powerful shot but the Mesaimeer keeper’s line of sight was blocked by his defenders and the ball went into the far corner of the net for Khor’s second of the night.
Mesaimeer’s Adnan scored in the 88th minute when the rebound off Abdulrahman Said fell to him. With this Adnan made amends for conceding the penalty earlier in the game.
This result means that Khor now have eight points. They are four points ahead of Qatar SC in 13th place and five ahead of Mesaimeer who are still bottom of the table.
In another match Al Kharaitiyat  defeated Al Gharafa 2-0 with Mohamed al-Yazidi and Hassan Abdel Fattah finding the net.