Al Rayyan drop points in 2-2 draw against Al Shahania 

Doha, Qatar: Al Rayan dropped points for the first time in seven matches in a 2-2 draw against Al Shahania which landed a big jolt to their Qatar Stars League title aspirations.

Al Al Duhail Stadium on Thursday, Rayyan were without captain Rodrigo Tabata who is injured and in hindsight his absence considerably hindered their attacking prowess while their defending was also not up to the mark.

Shahania took the lead against the run of play through Saoud Farhan in the ninth minute and even though two quick goals – from Abdelaziz Hatem (54th minute) and Sebastian Soria (60th) – gave Rayyan the lead and a firm foothold on the match, Ramin Rezaeian equalised eight minutes later as Diego Aguirre's side endured a frustrating end.

Rayyan were comfortably stroking the ball around in midfield right from the start but Shahania shocked them with an early  counter attack.

Kesse Amangoua used his pace to deadly effect on the inside right channel and squared the ball for Ali Ferydoun, who in turn passed to a better-positioned Saoud Farhan. The former Rayyan player took a touch to get the ball under control and buried it into the bottom corner with his next.

In the absence of captain Tabata, Yacine Brahimi had a more creative role to play and his through ball gave Abdulrahman Al Harazi a clear look at Shahania goal. However, the youngster failed to make the most of the opportunity, slashing the ball wide from close range.

Apart from an Amangoua shot that flew over the bar at the other end, the play was mostly in Shahania half and Rayyan even had a goal disallowed by VAR for offside in the 36th.

Rayyan players were queueing up to connect Abdulaziz Hatem's freekick from the left and even though Franck Kom bundled the ball home and the linesman's flag stayed down, referee soon reversed the decision.  

Brahimi was Rayyan's biggest goal threat in the first half and in the 42nd minute Alvaro Perez had to resort to a desperate tackle to stop the Algerian from breaking away and  the Shahania captain was shown a yellow card for the foul.

Rayyan continued to have meaningful possession in the second half as well but despite their continuous onslaught, Mohammed Ahmed Al Bakri was largely untroubled.

That would change soon as in the 54th minute Hatem reproduced the magic of his left foot, that played a big role in Qatar's Asian Cup triumph, as he twisted, turned, wriggled to break away from his markers before unleashed a stinging shot which Al Bakri failed to keep out despite getting a hand to it.

Rayyan took the lead six minutes later as Sebastian Soria swept home Mowafak Awad's cross from the right. They were threatening to consolidate it but in the 68th minute, Iranian attacker Rezaeian, playing as right back, showed his goalscoring skills as he sneaked behind  Mohammed Juma to head home Ali Feryedoun's cross.

The goal disrupted Rayyan's momentum and Shahania seemed to have taken the lead when Amangoua headed in  Feryedoun's cross only for VAR to intervene once again and disallow the goal.

Rayyan were desperately looking for a victory but the best chance in the dying minutes fell to Shahania and the Lions were lucky that Nigel De Jong failed to keep his shot from outside the area on target.

Rayyan are still second in the table, with 22 points from 10 matches, but leaders Al Duhail, on 23 can move further away if they win at Al Khor. Reigning champions Al Sadd are on 15 points but they have only seven matches.

In the second match Al Sailiya extended Al Arabi's winless run with a 2-1 victory.

Arabi took the lead through Pierre-Michel Lasogga in the 45th minute, but goals from Meshaal Al Shammeri (57th) and Mbark Boussoufa (80th) condemned them to their third defeat in four matches.