Al Sadd 3-4 Al-Rayyan: Ahmed Alaaeldin scores twice as early burst sends the visitors top

Al Rayyan had the match more or less won within 28 minutes. They scored four times in that spell at Jassim Bin Hamad, and they needed every one of them. Al Sadd came back at them in the second half, got to 4-3 and kept pushing to the end, but the equaliser never came.

Ahmed Alaaeldin scored twice for the visitors, and Otavio Monteiro and Roger Guedes scored one each, all before the half-hour. Al Rayyan went on to lead 4-1. Deep into first-half stoppage time Akram Afif had a penalty that would have made it 4-2, and he missed. He did get his goal in the end, and Roberto Firmino and Giovani Henrique scored the others as Al Sadd brought the deficit down to one.

The win takes Al Rayyan to the top of the table on goal difference, with 21 points. Al Sadd drop to third on 18. They scored three times at home against their closest rivals and still lost, because of the four goals they let in before the half-hour.

Facts from the league's own match report.