Al Rayyan beat Al Arabi to move to top of QSL table

Doha, Qatar: Al Rayyan and Al Arabi sized each other up, traded blows like professional boxers, attacked, defended, fouled, played the waiting game, fought with all their might but in the end the Lions were the ones celebrating on the pitch, and their fans on the stands with the flashlights of their phones on.

Two goals – a fine individual effort from Yacine Brahimi and an opportunistic strike from Gabriel Mercado – after Hamdi Harbaoui had put Arabi ahead, was enough for Rayyan who moved to the top of the table with 18 points from eight games.

Arabi, meanwhile, suffered their second straight defeat and are fourth on 13 points after a bright start to the season.

Rayyan captain Rodrigo Tabata made his presence felt early in the game with a shot that was deflected for a corner. Tabata was in fact calling the shots as he proved too fast for Yusuf Abdurisag, who got a yellow card for a late tackle, before the former Qatar captain drew a save from Arabi keeper Gregory Gomis, who palmed the ball away for a corner.

Though the corner did not brought any immediate result, Tabata's close control gave him an another chance for a crack at goal after Marc Martinez fouled him on the right, just outside the area. 

Tabata tried to sneak one in on the near side of Gomis, but the Arabi goalkeeper was alert to the danger.

Arabi have been a revelation this season bringing back their old form onto the pitch and hundreds of fans back into the stadium but the unfortunate injury to Aron Gunnarson has proved to be a big blow. 

They were again missing him in the midfiled where Rayyan had the upperhand quite often but in the hindsight it was their wasteful attackline that cost Arabi the game.

They had created three goal-scoring opportunities in the space of five minutes after the half-hour mark, and could have taken the lead had their strikers shown a bit more composure.

First, Harbaoui, who normally is a good header of the the ball, failed to direct a Pierre Michaelle cross goalwards, before Birkir Bjarnason drew a save from Fahad Baker. A couple of minutes later Michelle sent his right footer wide of the target from a promising position.

But moments after Abdulaziz Hatem tested Gomis with a grounder at the other end, Arabi took the lead, in the 40th minute. 

Pierre had drawn a fingertip save from Younis with a long range freekick and off the resulting corner the German made full use of his height as he headed the ball back into the danger area where Harboui swept it home, atoning for his previous miss, to send their fans into raptures.

But Arabi supporters had barely settled into their seats after the celebration when Brahimi equalised, showing his control and trickery in the process.

The Algerian striker, who joined the Lions at the start of the season after a five-year stint with Porto, was forced wide by Morteza Mohemmad, but he weaved his way back into the danger area and beat Younis with a powerful rightfooter.

Arabi's goal seemed to have woken Rayyan up and minutes later Tabata, 38 and still bossing the midfield, rattled the crossbar with a leftfooter that had Gomis rooted.

Rayyan went into the half-time break with the momentum working in their favour but Arabi seemed to have snatched it right back at the start of the second period.

After Fahad Ali Obaid's intelligent looping ball into the box found Abdurisag, who failed to beat Younis from hand shaking distance, Michelle again erred with his finishing, blasting the ball over with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Rayyan left back Mohammed Juma then made a couple of penetrating runs and had a chance to score on both ocassions, as he drew a save from Gomis once before sending his shot high with the next opportunity.

But Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre looked to be the more tense manager as the match moved into the last quarter, bringing in Dami Terawari, another defender, in place of Franck Kom.

And even as Arabi started looked better equipped for the end game Gomis had to dive full length to stop Brahimi from getting his second goal.

Moments later, Gomis was helpless as Rayyan got their second goal , from the corner.

Tabata's corner was headed onto the upright by substitute Sebastian Soria and Gabriel Mercado made no mistake with the rebound to make it 2-1.

Arabi fought hard for an equaliser, but Bjarnason's shot which went wide of the post was the closest they got. Brahimi and Musab Keder were involved in a tiff towards the end of the game and it continued for a while even after the final whiste, which only added to the drama.

Earlier, Al Shahania held Al Sailiya to a goalless draw.