Bottom of the league Al Sailiya salvaged an important win to get their survival hopes alive at the Al Arabi Stadium on Wednesday.
Relegation-threatened Al Sailiya faced mid-table side Al Markhiya in the penultimate round of the Qatar Star’s League. They had to rely on a comeback to get one point near the survival zone with a game to play.
While Jose Correia scored for Al Markhiya in the eighth minute of the match, Al Sailiya’s hope for survival was almost over but the second half was better for the Peregrines as Mirghani Al Zain’s side put three to dominate the match.
Credit goes to Mehrdad, who produced a stunning left-footer and later scored from the spot after being brought down inside the penalty area by an Al Markhiya player. A third goal was added by Khafi, who shot from the top of the box after receiving a Carlos Strandberg assist.
The victory keeps Al Sailiya’s hopes alive of avoiding relegation. They have 16 points from 21 games, one point behind both Umm Salal and Al Rayyan and two points behind Al Shamal (18), while Al Markhiya remained on 24 points.
In other matches, Al Wakrah beat 10 men Al Rayyan 1-0 and Umm Salal shared a 1-1 draw with Al-Shamal.
In their final round on May 9, Al Sailiya will play fourth-place Al Wakrah and hope for another good finish to pull themselves away from the relegation zone.