Eljaish’s Anderson Martins (left) of Brazil vies for the ball with Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Tabata during their Qatar Stars League match in Doha, yesterday.
DOHA: Eljaish edged past Al Rayyan 1-0 in the Qatar Stars League (QSL), thanks to Abdulgadir Elyas’ goal in the first half.
The victory for Razvan Lucescu’s side is the second consecutive week that Eljaish have picked up maximum points.
Yesterday’s win puts Eljaish in fourth place in the standings, with 19 points, one point behind Al Rayyan.
In other QSL action yesterday, Al Kharaitiyat beat Al Sailiyah 3-2 in a five-goal thriller.
Al Kharaitiyat are in ninth spot with 10 points, after they recorded their second victory of the season.
Al Sailiyah are bottom with five points.
Elsewhere, Umm Salal scored both their goals in their 2-1 win over Al Khor.
The victory for Umm Salal, sees them in fifth place with 17 points.
Al Khor are in 10th place with 10 points.
In the match between Eljaish and Al Rayyan at Qatar SC Stadium, Elyas scored a powerful header in the 32nd minute.
The striker got in front of his marker, and converted a swinging cross to put the ball past Al Rayyan goalkeeper Omar Barry.
The goal, which proved to be the decider in the 11th QSL round, delighted Eljaish coach Lucescu, who celebrated the goal on the touchline.
Al Rayyan, who dropped points against Al Arabi last week, tried to get back into the game, but Eljaish were closing the Al Rayyan players quickly.
Both sides tried to find another goal in the second half, and Wagner Ribeiro nearly gave Eljaish a 2-0 lead, but the Brazilian saw his effort go wide.
In the 81st minute, Rodrigo Tabata, who was named Player of the Year last season, nearly equalised.
The Brazilian midfielder struck a free-kick that was well saved by Eljaish goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodrigues.
Nilmar had a wonderful opportunity to level the game for Al Rayyan but shot wide in the 88th minute.
Elsewhere, Umm Salal were 2-0 up inside 30 minutes, thanks to goals by Cabore and Osthman Al Assas.
But two minutes later, Al Khor’s Osman Saleh scored a stunning strike that swerved in the air and into the back of the net. THE PENINSULA
