Umm Salal took on in-form Al Gharafa at the Qatar SC stadium yesterday and the Cheetahs were successful in penetrating the Orange fortress as they went on to win the game 2-0.
After a goalless first half, Johnson Kendrick and Abdulghani Muneer got their names on the score sheet to ensure that Al Gharafa won their fifth match in a row.
The first half ended with both sides at 0-0 despite Gharafa enjoying the majority of possession and chances.
In the 57th minute, Kendrick scored his third goal of the season after a brilliant counterattack by the Cheetahs. Muneer passed the ball to the unmarked Brazilian striker in the box, who took the ball around the keeper and passed the ball into the net.
Al Gharafa then doubled their lead in the 69th minute with a well-worked goal from Muneer. After a throw in, Vladimir Weiss passed to Muneer, who drove the ball into the box from the right, dribbled past two players and shot the ball into the goal after it came off keeper Baba Malik’s hands on the near post.
With this win Pedro Caixinha’s men remain undefeated in their last eight matches and have 20 points from ten games. Bulent Yugun’s Umm Salal now have two losses from their last three games and are sixth in the table with 13 points from 10 games.

Wakrah Down Al Khor 1-0
Bottom-placed Al Wakrah yesterday edged out Al Khor 1-0 to score their first win of the QSL season.
Mohsine Moutaouali scored the only goal of the match in the 43rd minute at Al Wakrah Stadium where scrappy football saw players getting tangled with match officials and rivals alike.
In the first 10 minutes of the clash, Al Khor enjoyed more ball possession compared to the home side.
However, the round 10 clash turned into a physical game as Al Khor’s Mouhssine Iajour seemingly head-butted Al Wakrah’s Ali Hussain, captain of the home side, as the players got ready for a free-kick. Hussain collapsed causing a stoppage in play amid constant berating and finger-pointing from players of the two sides.
After much delay, when the free-kick was finally taken, it was Iajour’s turn to put on a show as the feisty Moroccan striker tumbled following a rough tackle from Hussain. Another stoppage in play ensued as players quarrelled inside the Al Khor box in the 17th minute.
At the half-hour mark, Al Wakrah’s Hamood al-Yazidi hoodwinked his marker but his shot — fired at an acute angle — was taken care of by Al Khor keeper Baba Djibril.
With two minutes before the first-half whistle went off, Al Wakrah grabbed the lead.
Blue Waves midfielder Ahmed Fadel slipped in a neat ball from the edge of the box toward Moutaouali, who should have been marked by the two Al Khor defenders in their own box. With his markers slow to react, Moutaouali tapped the ball down before firing his shot into the net with goalkeeper Djibril unable to stop.

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