The 2023-2024 Expo Stars League’s Week 12 action was held on December 20 and 21, 2023. Of the six matches, five ended in victory and one was drawn, between Al Arabi and Al Shamal.

Al Sadd maintained their lead on top with 31 points, while the competition remained intense between Al Wakrah and Al Gharafa for second place, as Al Wakrah continued their winning run by defeating Muaither 4-2 and Al Gharafa beat Qatar SC 2-1, leaving Al Wakrah and Al Gharafa in second and third place respectively with 27 points. Al Wakrah had the advantage of better goal difference.

Al Rayyan got back to winning ways by beating Al Markhiya 6-0 to move on to 22 points.

Al Arabi advanced to fifth place with 17 points, the same as Al Duhail (sixth on goal difference), and Umm Salal are placed seventh with 15 points.

 

Qatar SC and Al Ahli are in eighth and ninth place with 12 points each, Al Shamal fell to 10th place with 11 points, Muaither remained in 11th place with six points and Al Markhiya stood rooted to 12th place with four points.

RESULTS

Muaither lost to Al Wakrah   2-4

Al Gharafa bt Qatar SC         2-1

Al Shamal drew Al Arabi       0-0

Al Rayyan bt Al Markhiya     6-0

Al Duhail lost to Al Ahli         3-5

Al Sadd bt Umm Salal  6-0

Week 12 witnessed 29 goals, the highest scoring equal with Week 3, with an average of 4.8 goals per match.

The most number of goals came in the match between Al Duhail and Al Ahly (eight goals) and the biggest margin of victory was recorded in the Al Rayyan vs Al Markhiya and Al Sadd vs Umm Salal matches (both 6-0).

 

Al Wakrah keep winning

Al Wakrah scored their third victory in a row by defeating Muaither. This was the team’s first game under new interim coach Jose Murcia, who replaced fellow Spaniard Marquez Lopez who took over as the Qatar national team coach.

The first half ended in a 2-2 draw, as Al Wakrah took the lead with an early goal after less than two minutes by Khaled Munir and was strengthened by a second goal by Rabeh Yahya, but Muaither came back strong and equalized the score before the end of first half through Denis Albeck and then through Ayman Al Hassouni from a penalty kick. Then, Mohamed Benyettou and Jacinto Dala strengthened their lead with goals.

Al Gharafa come from behind to beat Qatar SC

Al Gharafa came from behind against Qatar SC to win by a 2-1 margin to be in title contention.

Qatar SC surged ahead through Congolese striker Ben Malango before Al Gharafa equalized through Ahmed Al Janahi and Algerian star Yacine Brahimi struck the winner in the 90+5 minute from a penalty kick.

 

Al Shamal draw with Al Arabi

Al Shamal and Al Arabi played out a goalless draw and dropped points.

 

Big win for Al Rayyan over Al Markhiya

Al Rayyan also returned to victories and strong performances by recording a big win over Al Markhiya by a 6-0 margin.

The first half witnessed an advantage for Al Rayyan, who succeeded in taking the lead goal through Gabriel Pereira. In the second half, they struck goals through Achraf Bencharki (two goals), Roger Guedes, Ahmed Al Rawi and Andre Amaro.

 

Al Ahli regain winning touch at the expense of Al Duhail

Al Ahli beat Al Duhail 5-3 in an exciting match that saw The Brigadiers put up a strong show against the reigning champions. On the other hand, Al Duhail kept losing.

Al Sadd back on track with big win over Umm Salal

Al Sadd also regained their winning touch after losing to Al Arabi 0-1 in their postponed match from Week 6. This time, The Wolves beat Umm Salal 6-0 to continue their lead in the standings with 31 points.

The goals for Al Sadd were scored by Gonzalo Plata (10th minute), Hassan Al Haydous (14th and 49th minutes), Akram Afif (18th and 43rd minutes) and Guilherme Torres (69th minute).

It may be noted that the Expo Stars League will now have a break due to the Asian Cup from January 12 to February 10, 2024.