The prolific Baghdad Bounedjah scored the winner for Al Sadd as Laurent Blanc’s first match in charge of Al Rayyan ended in a defeat for the Frenchman yesterday.
The high-voltage QNB Stars League match, dubbed Qatar Clasico, seemingly looked for a tense finish before Algerian striker Bounedjah broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute at Jassim Bin Hamad stadium.
Al Sadd’s ninth win in 10 matches extended their unbeaten run as they comfortably lead the table with 28 points, seven more than Al Gharafa. Rayyan stay at sixth with 13 points, but Blanc would have been impressed with the way his new side fought till the end against an Al Sadd side that are on a hot streak. Rayyan lacked quality on the night, but made up for that with an impressive defensive show.
Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez later said that his side deserved the victory. “We were better than Al Rayyan, especially in the second half. We wasted many chances that could have changed the outcome of the match. I am happy with the performance of all the players, it is not easy to win,” the Spaniard said.
Blanc made the surprise return to club management earlier this month, with the 1998 French World Cup winner resuming dugout duties after a four-year hiatus. The Al Rayyan job is his first managerial role since the 55-year-old left Paris Saint-Germain in 2016.
Despite his long spell in the footballing wilderness, Blanc boasts a more than adequate success rate having won four French league titles from only six seasons as a manager, three of those coming from his 2013-2016 spell at PSG. And Rayyan will hoping Blanc can lead them to success in Qatar’s top flight.
Earlier, Al Arabi defeated Al Kharaitiyat 3-1 at the Al Ahli Stadium, in which Aron Gunnarsson’s spectacular goal was the highlight of the match. Apart from Gunnarsson’s 55th minute strike, Ibrahim Nasser Kalla (16th minute) and Mehrdad Mohammadi (47th minute) scored for Arabi. Rachid Tiberkanine scored the only goal of Al Kharaitiyat in the 50th minute.
Arabi climbed to 9th from 11th after the victory with nine points, while Al Kharaitiyat are bottom with just six points.
After a slow start, Al Arabi picked up momentum with a threatening move that lacked finishing touch in the third minute. Al Arabi captain Ahmed Fathy covered plenty of ground on the right flank before slipping in a cross for Iranian team-mate Mehrdad, who jumped for a snap-header from close range, but his deflection was grabbed by keeper Shehab Ellethy.
In the 12th minute, a similar move involving the same players ended with Mehrdad’s weak header going a little wayward on a cross from Fathy on the flank. Four minutes later, Al Arabi opened the scoring. Ibrahim, with nobody marking him, picked up a short cross near the half-line and then charged ahead solo. Around 5-6 yards from the edge of the Al Kharaitiyat box, Nasser curled in a spectacular right-footed shot that swung in late and beat the diving keeper.
Al Kharaitiyat’s Mohammed Osman twice attempted long-range shots (27th and 32nd minute) from the edge of the Al Arabi box, but on both occasions he was wayward as The Thunders were not allowed much breathing space by Al Arabi backline.
In the second half, three quick goals were scored. Mehrdad, after receiving a short pass, charged into the Al Karaitiyat box with Mahmoud Abdelhalim giving a hot chase, but the former stopped the ball and then in the same momentum produced a left-footed clip into the goal. The ball swung and dipped into the far right of the keeper.
In the 51st minute, after receiving a cross from Osman, Tiberkanine charged ahead with the ball inside the box before calmly slotting it into the Al Arabi net.
Then came the spectacular goal. Gunnarsson, after receiving a short pass near the edge of his own box, ran with the ball for short distance and then in one single move fired the ball from around 70 yards into the net with Al Kharaitiyat keeper way out of position. The long-range shot took the goalkeeper by surprise and he could do little to stop the ball from going into the net.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli were denied second spot in the standings after they lost to Qatar Sports Club 1-4 at the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium. In an action-packed match, Youcef Belaili converted three penalties for Qatar SC in the second half, while the other goal came from Anthony Okpotu. For Al Ahli, Nabil El Zhar had equalised also through penalty in the 42nd minute.
Aron Gunnarsson (left) scored a spectacular goal from 70 yards as Al Arabi defeated Al Kharaitiyat 3-1.
