If a team possesses a striker of Baghdad Bounedjah’s calibre no opposition can rule them out until the final whistle. The Algerian striker proved that once again, scoring the winner in the final minute of stoppage time to give Al Sadd a muchneeded 1-0 victory over Qatar SC yesterday. Despite making numerous attacks against Qatar SC, defending champions Al Sadd were unable to score a goal against a stubborn defense on their home turf, until Bounedjah headed the ball into the goal in (90+8 minutes) on a corner kick to give Al Sadd their fourth consecutive victory since the league resumed on July 24. It was Bounedjah’s 14th goal in the season, making him favourite to retain his golden boot.

With a win in the penultimate round that witnessed gradual return of fans, Al Sadd moved to 44 points on third position but their chance of retaining the title remains slim. Table toppers Al Duhail (46 points) and second strongest contenders for the title, Al Rayyan (45 points) will be seen in action in their Round 21 fixtures today. Earlier, Al Sailiya also registered a 1-0 win over Al Arabi in yesterday’s other match at the Al Janoub Stadium. Mohammed Abuzraik scored the all-important goal in the 47th minute as Al Sailiya consolidated their fifth place with 28 points. Also yesterday, Al Wakrah moved to sixth place with 27 points after securing full points, beating Al Ahli 1-0 at Al Janoub Stadium. Al Arabi (25 points) slipped to seventh spot. Cristian Ceballos scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 74th minute.

Title contenders Al Duhail, Al Rayyan eye wins

Meanwhile, Al Duhail and Al Rayyan will be looking for maximum points in their penultimate round matches against the relegationthreatened oppositions. Al Duhail will take on 11th placed Al Khor at Al Sadd Stadium while Al Rayyan will meet bottom-placed Al Shahania at Al Janoub Stadium, with both the matches scheduled to kick off at 7:30pm. Al Duhail, who defeated Al Khor 3-2 in the first leg, are seeking another win against their opponents to retain at least their one-point lead against Al Rayyan on top of the table. “We must beat Al Khor. We hope to remain in high spirit as we did in all previous matches, especially against Al Sadd in the last round, even though we failed to get any point from that game,” Al Duhail coach Walid Regragui told a pre-match press conference. “The match will not be easy, but the advantage we have is that we still control our fate and we must win the next two matches in order to win the league.

This is what I told my players. We now think only about the Al Khor match,” he added. Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre said today’s game against Al Shahania is nothing short of a final for his side. “Our loss in this match means losing the dream of winning the league, so the match will be a final for us. "The Al Shahania match will be difficult mainly because they are playing for survival, so we have to offer our best on the field. We will try to win because we do not want to lose any point and this is our last chance to compete for the title,” he said before adding Al Sadd’s 1-0 win over Al Duhail in last round raised Al Rayyan’s chances of winning the title. In other match today, Al Gharafa, who secured fourth spot last week will meet 10-placed Umm Salal at Al Janoub Stadium.

Source: thepeninsulaqatar.com

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