Al Rayyan Beat Umm Salal 3-1 in Ooredoo Stars League Season Opener

Doha: Al Rayyan defeated Umm Salal 3-1 in Week 1 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium of Al Rayyan club on Friday. Hazem Ahmad (63rd minute), Gabriel Pereira (90th + 10 minute), plus a 97th minute own goal from Umm Salal's Edidiong Essien gave Al Rayyan the win, while The Orange Fortress' only goal came from Oussama Tannane in the 89th minute. The season opener started on a cautious note, with both sides sizing each other up with a view of not opening up their rear for an early goal from the opposing side. The match brightened up in the fifth minute after Umm Salal's Kenji Gorre appeared to have scored a sublime goal with a thunderous 20-yard shot after getting to the end of a long ball from Omar Yahya. The goal, however, was subsequently stood down by the referee after adjudging the Dutch player to have shoved Al Rayyan right-back Murad Naji prior to shooting for goal. The cancelled goal was a wake-up call for Al Rayyan as they began to exert themselves more into the game from thereon and defensive midfielder Thiago Mendes came close to getting the lead for Al Rayyan in the 18th minute with a header, if not for the sharp reflexes of Umm Salal goalkeeper Landing Badji who made a great save from a very close range. As much as the teams made several attempts at goal, none of them was able to hit the right target as the first half ended goalless. Umm Salal started from where they stopped on the resumption of second half as they made several incursions into their opponents' 18-yard box, with Gorre being the chief culprit. The 29-year-old former Swansea City player was close to scoring in the 60th minute after waltzing his way past two Al Rayyan defenders before unleashing a powerful shot that stretched goalkeeper Fahad Younes into saving. Three minutes later, Al Rayyan took the lead, with Ahmad heading home from a precise overhead pass from Gabriel Pereira to the joy of the vociferous Al Rayyan fans. Al Rayyan had a chance at extending their lead from the spot in the 70th minute through Roger Guedes, who was adjudged to have been brought down by Nigerian international Edidiong earlier on, but goalkeeper Badji got it right with a fine save, and the subsequent second attempt at goal by Pereira went high and wide. Just when it seemed that Al Rayyan would be running away with the lone-goal lead, Umm Salal's Tannane struck with a powerful outside-of-the-box low drive in the 89th minute to restore parity for the away side. Three minutes later, Guedes missed what could have been the second goal for his team as he sent wide a sitter. Al Rayyan need not wait too long for their lead, as an own goal from Edidiong, off a corner kick, put paid to that in the 96th minute. Pereira eventually got himself on the scorers sheet in 10 minutes of added time after getting to the end of a precise pass by Rodrigo Tabata, who hijacked the ball in midfield from Umm Salal before laying up the pass for the onrushing Pereira, who ended the move with the coolest of finishing past goalkeeper Badji to ma ke it 3-1. Source : Qatar News Agency