Doha [Qatar], November 5: Late goals earned Al Rayyan SC a hard-fought 2-0 win against Al Nahda Club in their AFC Champions League Two 2026-27 Group C tie at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Wednesday.
Back-to-back victories against the side from Oman means Qatar's Al Rayyan - on nine points - are in a strong position to secure one of the two qualification spots into the Round of 16.
Aleksandar Mitrovic could have put Al Rayyan ahead after five minutes when he powered a header from Ahmed Al Ganehi's flick towards goal but unfortunately for the Serbian, the ball came back off the crossbar.
Quick movement by Al Nahda saw space open up for Jameel Al Yahmadi in the 11th minute, the midfielder pouncing on Karim Darwich's return pass to drive into the box but smashed his effort straight at goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada.
The home side spurned another opportunity in the 28th minute when Wesley Ribeiro chested a long ball, beat Amjad Abdullah but could only send his attempt into the side netting.
Abunada had to work hard to tip over Thani Al Rushaidi's header before coming out tops again late in the first half to deny Abdullah after the forward was allowed to surge from the halfway line unchallenged.
After a balanced start to the second half, the game swung in favour of Al Rayyan thanks to the introduction of Roger Guedes and Otavio, which added fresh attacking impetus to their play.
Otavio's corner delivery in the 66th minute was misjudged by Faiyz Al Rushedi, Guedes headed the ball towards goal but defender Al Rushaidi managed to clear away the danger.
Al Nadha, however, could do nothing in the 78th minute as Al Rayyan opened the scoring when Guedes spotted Mitrovic had peeled away from his marker, the latter comfortably curling his effort past a diving Al Rusheidi.
Guedes put away Al Rayyan's second in the 86th minute after Wesley's strike had deflected off the unlucky Al Rushaidi with the Brazilian kept onside by Abdullah.
The goal sparked confrontation between the two sets of players with Al Nahda's Mohammed Mubarak shown a second yellow card for bumping Diogo Amaro off the ball as the visitors suffered the third defeat of their campaign.
Source: Qatar Tribune
