Muaither and Al Rayyan played out a goalless draw in Week 9 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium of Al Ahli club on Saturday.

Following the outcome of the match, Muaither remained rooted on five points, while Al Rayyan now have 16 points.

Both teams came into the match desperate for a win after suffering defeats in Week 8, with Muaither losing 1-3 to Umm Salal and Al Rayyan losing a two-goal lead to Al Duhail to end up being beaten 3-2.

Al Rayyan were the better side for most part of the first half, as they made repeated incursions into Muaither’s 18-yard box, albeit without any fruition, as poor finishing was the bane of The Lions’ attack.

The first half ended in a goalless stalemate as Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Moreno missed several attempts at putting his side in front, as did Roger Guedes, while on Muaither’s side, Guy Mbenza had most of the goal attempts, which were also either missed, blocked or saved.

The second half was not much different from the first, with chances few and far between on both sides of the divide. 

Al Rayyan’s Bassam Al Rawi had his header from an Achraf Bencharki’s cross that was destined for the top centre of the goal saved in the 53rd minute, while Mbenza was caught offside four minutes later as Denis Alibec tried to slide in a through ball to him on a counter.

With no breakthrough in sight, Al Rayyan substituted Bencharki for Rodrigo Tabata in the 62nd minute, while Abdulaziz Al Hasia replaced Mbenza on the Muaither side.

The changes ended up not providing the much-needed effect as the match ended goalless.