The 2023-2024 Expo Stars League’s Week 1 action, held on August 16, 17 and 18, 2023, witnessed four wins and two draws as all teams geared up for an exciting season ahead.
A total of 21 goals were scored during the six matches, with an average of 3.5 goals per match. The biggest victory this week was achieved by Al Wakrah over Muaither, while the Qatar SC vs Al Gharafa match witnessed the largest number of goals. Al Wakrah and Al Rayyan emerged with clean sheets, the QSL website reported.
Al Wakrah made a great start by scoring three goals without any response from Muaither to secure all three points. On the other hand, Muaither performed well and the team had a great appearance despite the defeat.
Al Wakrah scored two goals within two minutes just before the end of first half, as Mohamed Benyettou opened the scoring in the 45th minute and in stoppage time of the first half, Ayoub Assal added the second.
In the second half, Ayoub Assal added his second goal and the third for Al Wakrah from a mistake by goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodrigues.
Meanwhile, Al Arabi and Al Shamal teams tied with a goal each. Al Shamal had much of the advantage at the beginning of first half and they were closest to opening the scoring as they piled pressure on Al Arabi with relentless attempts at goal.
Al Arabi turned on the offensive and their attacks yielded the desired result in the 29th minute when Matias Nani deflected the ball into his own net while trying to negotiate action following a corner kick to end the first half with The Dream Team advancing with a goal.
Al Shamal succeeded in translating their advantage to score the equalizer through Jordanian Ali Olwan after a mistake by defender Jassem Jaber in the 90+2 minute, so the match ended with a goal for each of them.
Moreover, Al Gharafa tied Qatar SC with four goals each in an exciting match that witnessed the brilliance of Qatar SC’s Brazilian striker Bruno Tabata, who scored a hat-trick.
Qatar SC opened the scoring in the sixth minute with Tabata’s goal and the same player doubled the lead in the 20th minute. Yohan Boli reduced the score for Al Gharafa in the 35th minute before Ahmed Al Janehi equalized deep into injury time of the first half.
In the 58th minute and, in a wonderful way, Tabata completed his hat-trick and gave his team the lead before Al Janehi grabbed his brace and the third for his team to equalize in the 77th minute.
In stoppage time, Algerian Yacine Brahimi gave Al Gharafa the lead in a distinctive way and, in the last seconds of the match, the excitement continued until Ben Malango managed to save his team from losing and score the fourth goal. (MORE)
Source: Qatar News Agency
