The competitions of 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League were filled with a lot of excitement and there were notable headlines, the most important of which was Al Sadd moving further ahead in the lead in the quest to regain the title that Al Duhail claimed last season.

While Al Gharafa regained the winning touch following a loss to Al Ahli in the previous round, Al Duhail continued to suffer negative results and lost for a sixth time this season.

Al Markhiya, led by Algerian coach Madjid Bougherra, scored a second victory this season beating Al Wakrah.

The week’s summit clash between Al Arabi and Al Rayyan ended with the latter scoring a win and jumping into the third place and continuing their strong return into the top four, benefiting from Al Wakrah’s stumble, who fell to fourth on goal difference.

The round saw 19 goals being scored, one match ending in a draw, and five victories being scored, as Al Shamal, Muaither and Al Sadd teams emerged with clean sheets.

Three players scored hat-tricks: National team star Akram Afif against Qatar SC, Al Gharafa star Yacine Brahimi against Al Duhail and Al Rayyan’s Roger Guedes against Al Arabi.

RESULTS

Al Shamal drew Muaither 0-0

Umm Salal beat Al Ahli     2-1

Al Markhiya beat Al Wakrah    2-1

Al Gharafa beat Al Duhail         4-1

Al Sadd beat Qatar SC      3-0

Al Rayyan beat Al Arabi   3-2

The week’s first match saw a draw between Al Shamal and Muaither, who are competing to escape from the danger zone. The two teams were satisfied with a point after a goalless draw, and Al Shamal’s tally rose to 12 points being in 10th place, while Muaither have 10 points in 11th place.

Umm Salal succeeded in regaining the winning touch again with a valuable victory over Al Ahli by two goals to one in an exciting match that was decided with Nasser Al Nasr scoring the winning goal in 45+ 5 minute.

Al Ahli were the first to take the lead early through Oumar Sekou, benefiting from the morale-boosting win in Week 14 over Al Gharafa. Umm Salal fetched the equalizer through their professional Victor Lekhal in the 32nd minute before Al Nasr ensured victory and the three points for his team.

With this victory, Umm Salal have raised their tally to 19 points and advanced from seventh to the fifth place, benefiting from the losses of Al Duhail and Al Arabi, to be one of the most prominent beneficiaries during this round. Al Ahli’s tally has stopped at 15 points, they being in eighth place after suffering their ninth loss this season.

Al Wakrah suffered a loss against Al Markhiya, causing The Blue Wave to lose the runners-up spot in rankings after Al Gharafa’s victory over Al Duhail, as the team suffered their second loss this season, freezing the tally at 28 points and falling to fourth place, while Al Markhiya moved to seven points, but still in 12th place. The victory, however, gives Al Markhiya a strong incentive to hold on to the hope of escaping from being in last place in the coming weeks.

Although Al Wakrah were the first to take the lead through Hamdi Fathi in the 31st minute, Al Markhiya equalized with a goal scored by Driss Fettouhi in the 58th minute in a wonderful way from a set piece, then Ruben Semedo scored the second goal in the 75th minute to give his team a valuable victory.

Al Sadd were back to winning following their last round’s draw with Al Wakrah, by defeating Qatar SC 3-0 in a match in which the star Akram Afif excelled scoring a hat-trick with goals in the 34th, 44th, and 45+7 minutes, including two goals from two penalty kicks.

Al Gharafa, while Qatar SC’s tally stays at 13 points, they being in ninth place and in struggle at the bottom of the standings.

Al Gharafa deepened Al Duhail’s wounds beating them 4-1 and seizing second place in the standings, taking advantage of Al Wakrah’s loss to Al Markhiya.

The match witnessed the clear brilliance of Algerian star Yacine Brahimi who scored a hat-trick getting the goals in the 14th minute from a penalty kick, 55th minute and 82nd minute, while Tunisian star Ferjani Sassi scored a goal in the 64th minute. Kenyan Michael Olunga scored Al Duhail’s only goal in the 20th minute.

Al Gharafa’s tally rose to 30 points, advancing to second place, while Al Duhail are stuck on 18 points and in seventh place.

The exciting conclusion of Week 15 was with the clash between Al Arabi and Al Rayyan, which witnessed thrilling moments until the last minutes. Al Arabi were close to snatching the equalizing point in the last seconds after Rami Suhail scored a goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time but VAR ruled a no-goal. Al Rayyan snatched the three points with Roger Guedes’ hat-trick, who excelled and led the team to victory, which promoted Al Rayyan to third place, benefiting from Al Wakrah’s stumble against Al Markhiya and their fall to fourth place.

Despite the expulsion of player Ahmed Al Menhali in the 74th minute, Al Rayyan remained steadfast in the face of strong pressure from Al Arabi to achieve a valuable result and score a second win in the league over the rivals whom they had beaten 1-0 in the first leg.

Al Rayyan raised their tally to 28 points to be in third place on goal difference from Al Wakrah (fourth), while Al Arabi are on 18 points and in sixth place after suffering their fourth loss of the season.