Al Duhail's Michael Olunga vies for the ball with an Al Shamal player.
Doha: QNB Stars League Title-contenders Al Duhail yesterday managed to collect full points despite a strong fight from bottom sitters Al Shamal with a 1-0 win at Al Khor Stadium.
Kenyan striker Michael Olunga scored the only goal of the match in the 54th minute through a penalty kick.
Yesterday's win is a sigh of relief for the Luis Castro-coached side who came back from a 4-1 defeat in the hands of Al Wakrah in their Week 5’s postponed match last Thursday.
Al Duhail are now level with the reigning champions Al Sadd (18 points) at the top of the standings ahead of the Wolves' Round 7 match against Umm Salal today.
On the other hand, Al Shamal stood on four points (one win, one draw and five defeats).
The match witnessed the expulsion of Edmilson Junior of Al Duhail in the 48th minute. The first half was devoid of real opportunities to score.
After losing the services of Edmilson Junior through a red card soon after the start of second half, Al Duhail intensified the pressure through attacks by Almoez Ali, Ismail Mohammed and Olunga, while Al Shamal tried hard to defend their goal.
Al Duhail went ahead through Olunga’s penalty conversion after he was fouled by Al Shamal defender Yassin Yaqoub in the penalty area.
The remaining time failed to produce another goal and Al Duhail emerged as the winners.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli and Al Arabi shared points following a 1-1 draw at the Al Arabi Stadium yesterday. Abdulaziz Hazaa (42nd minute) scored for Al Ahli, while Yousef Msakni (84th minute) equalised for hosts Al Arabi who raised their points tally to 13.
Al Arabi are third in the current QSL standings while Al Ahli sit at the seventh spot with five points.
Later, at the same venue, Al Wakrah and Qatar SC also shared points after a goalless draw.
