DOHA: Al Rayyan once again proved why they are the leading side at the Qatar Stars League (QSL) when they made a brilliant fightback to overcome Al Wakrah 2-1 for their eighth consecutive victory in the prestigious event at Al Gharafa Stadium.

On the day when Al Sadd edged out Al Gharafa and Al Ahli shocked Qatar SC QSL points leader Al Rayyan got off to a terrible start with Mohammed Joma scoring an own goal in the 29th minute.

But the players remained calm and were rewarded for their composure when first Rodrigo Tabata equalised in the 45th minute and Nathan Otavio clinching the winner in the 50th minute.

The win keeps Al Rayyan’s perfect start to the season intact with 24 points out of eight matches. Al Wakrah slumped to 10th place (with six points) after the loss.

Later at the same venue Al Sadd leapfrogged to second spot after edging out Al Gharafa 1-0.

Luiz Guilherme Silva scored the all-important goal of the match in 59th minute as Al Sadd overcame El Jaish in the standings with 18 points.

However El Jaish (17 points) who are yet to taste defeat can regain their second spot if they win against Mesaimeer today.

Meanwhile a close encounter at Lekhwiya Stadium saw Al Khor earn their first win of the season after defeating Qatar Sports Club 2-1 yesterday.

The first twenty minutes saw Al Khor slightly edging the game as they held a high defensive line. The only chance of note came on the 21st minute when Khor’s two Brazilians Cesar and Madson combined with the later trying to curl an effort past Mohammed Dawood.

With Al Khor yet to win a game the men from the north pressed more and more and Qatar were made to play on the counter but hadn’t managed to test the keeper at all.

On the half hour mark Al Khor’s pressure finally paid off as frontman Julio Cesar scored for the Knights.

What should have been a routine catch for QSC keeper Dawood instead turned into a comedy of errors as he fluffed his clearance and the ball fell to Cesar who nodded it in.

Qatar didn’t take long to respond however they won a corner on the far side of the box wingback Ali Shaheen sent an in-swinger into the box and new signing Mohassine Iajour rose highest to head in the equaliser (39’).

The second half followed a similar pattern as Khor pushed forward and Qatar were slow out of the blocks.

For all of Khor’s early possession it was Qatar with the better chances as first Fadhil Omer sent a volley just wide of the post and then Iajour had a decent effort deflected around the post. Madison then came close on the 66il minute a quick one-two with team-mate Majid saw the Brazilian freed down the right. From a tight angle he took a shot with his weaker right foot but the keeper saved well.

The two teams were evenly matches going into the last twenty minutes and the next goal would probably be the winner.

Al Khor’s Rezah Najafi took a hopeful shot at goal and Qatar SC’s keeper should have done better but instead failed to catch it and Madson pounced from close range to once again put his side in the lead (73’).

In the 80th minute Qatar’s frontman Iajour came agonisingly close as he received a cross from the left the ball ricocheted of the defender and the Moroccan stretched to toe poke the effort in but the ball went just wide of the far post. Qatar brought on new signng Dagano and pressed late on but didn’t really manage to test the keeper as Khor saw out the last ten minutes of the Round 8 clash.

THE PENINSULA