Doha: Al Duhail and Al Shahania played out a 1-1 draw in Round 5, Group A of the 2024-2025 season QSL Cup at the Grand Hamad Stadium of Al Arabi club on Sunday.
With the result, Al Shahania missed out on advancing into the quarterfinals of the tournament after ending the group in the last position with two points from two draws and three losses in the overall five matches played.
Pelle van Amersfoort’s (90th + 6 minute) strike secured the point for Al Shahania after Ahmed El Sayed had put the Red Knights ahead in the 26th minute.
An already qualified Al Duhail, expectedly, were not in any way under pressure in the thrilling encounter, as they seemed to take things easy and not in a hurry for goals.
The first real chance of the night fell to Al Shahania, with van Amersfoort having an opportunity to put his side ahead in the 10th minute after being fed a through pass by Lotfi Madjer, but the Dutch international found his effort hitting the upright from a tight angle.
Al Duhail equally had some opportunities at drawing the first blood, but the team, composed mostly of the Under-21 and Under-17 lads, seemed to lack the required experience to put things to bed.
The Red Knights captain, El Sayed, eventually took matters into his own hands in the 26th minute when he gave his team the lead from a set piece that Al Shahania’s goalkeeper, Ebrahim Mordou, stunningly could not provide an answer to as he allowed the ball to slip through his hands into the net to the joy of Al Duhail and the consternation of his team.
A stunned Al Shahania, who had been the dominant side in the match, tried in vain to stage a comeback before the first 45 minutes ended.
The second half was no different from the first with Al Shahania, who are aiming to book a place in the quarterfinals of the tournament, doing most of the pressing while Al Duhail soaked up the pressure with occasional counterattacks.
Despite Al Shahania’s constant waves of attack, it was Al Duhail, however, who came close to adding to their tally in the 58th minute, with under-17 player Adem Belmadi’s strike painfully hitting the crossbar after a slight deflection from Al Shahania’s defence. The subsequent cornerkick was however not converted.
A relentless Al Shahania eventually got their equalising goal late in injury time, with van Amersfoort cancelling out Al Duhail’s lead with a sublime strike in six minutes of added time to ensure the spoils were evenly shared in the keenly contested match.
