Doha: Al Rayyan defeated Al Arabi 2-1 in their Week 17 match of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium of Al Rayyan club on Thursday.
Mahmoud Trézéguet (5th minute) and Roger Guedes (73rd minute, penalty) secured the win for Al Rayyan, while Al Arabi’s sole goal came through Hassan Alaaldeen (25th minute).
Al Rayyan now have 24 points, while Al Arabi’s points tally remain unchanged at 19 points.
Al Rayyan got off to a dream start against The Dream Team with Trézéguet putting them ahead within the fifth minute of play, tucking the ball in from the rebound of Julien De Sart’s long-range shot, which grazed the upright before falling onto the path of the Egyptian to finish off.
Tameem Mansour almost doubled the lead six minutes later, but the offside flag denied him the opportunity of finishing off the opportunity with only goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada to beat.
Al Arabi also had a couple of chances, which they could not put to bed until the 25th minute, when Alaaldeen restored parity for them with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box, assisted by Ahmed Alaaeldin.
Gingered by the goal, the momentum of the match seemingly shifted towards Al Arabi as they began to grow more confident with each passing minute, ensuring The Lions are kept at bay unlike the earlier minutes of play, but their grit and determination, however, did not translate into goals as the first half ended with the scoreline unchanged.
Trézéguet was once again very close to giving Al Rayyan the lead four minutes after the resumption of the second half, only for his shot from outside the box following a corner to fly just inches higher than the target.
Guedes thought he had put Al Rayyan ahead in the 61st minute, but his goal was disallowed after a VAR check for an offside position.
Guedes goal eventually came in the 73rd minute, but this time from the spot, as he converted the penalty awarded after a foul on him by Abdullah Marafee as Al Rayyan regained their lead.
Despite Al Arabi’s attempt at getting parity restored, especially in the dying minutes of added time, they were, however, unlucky as Al Rayyan stood their ground, ensuring the match ended with them walking away with the three maximum points.
