The QNB Stars League’s Week 8 action saw reigning champions Al Duhail occupy the top spot for the first time this season, displacing Al Sadd.
Al Duhail led the standings following their 2-0 victory over Umm Salal and Al Sadd’s 1-1 draw with Al Sailiya.
Al Sadd had been on top of the standings right from Week 1 on goal difference.
Al Duhail now have 19 points from six victories and one draw. The Red Knights were held by Al Rayyan earlier.
Al Sadd are second on 17 points from five wins and two draws. The Wolves were previously held by Al Gharafa.
Umm Salal’s three-match winning run thus came to an end. Nevertheless, The Orange Fortress stayed fifth with 13 points.
Al Sailiya’s gritty performance, that saw them hold Al Sadd through a late penalty goal by striker Abdulqadir Ilyas after Algerian ace Baghdad Bounedjah put the home side ahead, helped them remain in the third position with 16 points.
The week’s big upset saw Al Rayyan crash to a 0-1 loss to Al Khor, who were the only team yet to register a victory ahead of the QNB Stars League Week 8 fixtures.
Following the defeat, Al Rayyan parted ways with Rodolfo Arruabarrena and made Under-23 coach Yuri O de Souza in charge of the senior side.
Under Rodolfo, Al Rayyan had started off the 2018-19 season well by winning the Sheikh Jassim Cup with victory over Al Duhail. However, the Argentinian failed to improve the team’s performance.
The Lions, who stood fourth with 14 points, had lost to Al Sadd 0-5 in the Qatar Clasico in Week 6.
Similarly, Al Arabi’s 0-3 defeat to Al Gharafa resulted in the dismissal of Croatian coach Luka Bonacic. The Dream Team handed the charge to their Under-23 coach Hatem Al Moaddeb.
In the process, Al Gharafa arrested their three-match losing streak that saw The Cheetahs suffer defeats at the hands of Umm Salal, Al Duhail and Al Kharaitiyat.
Still, Al Arabi stayed sixth in the table with 12 points, two more than Al Gharafa who remained seventh on 10 points.
Al Ahli jumped from ninth to eighth spot with a 2-1 win over Al Shahania. It was The Brigadiers’ third victory. They have nine points, while Al Shahania
(seven points) slipped from eighth to 10th position.
Qatar SC, playing their first match under the tutelage of Argentinian Serio Batista, recorded a 2-0 victory over Al Kharaitiyat and moved from 10th to ninth in the table with seven points.
Al Kharaitiyat are now at the bottom with three points.
The week witnessed 13 goals being scored, compared to 15 in the last round, and just one drawn encounter.
Source: qsl.qa