Al Gharafa beat Al Nasr 3-1, El Jaish hold Al Jazira

Al Gharafa went in front after just eight minutes when Qatar international midfielder Quaye thundered a long range drive beyond Ahmad Shambih and into the top corner via a slight deflection off the shoulder of Giuseppe Mascara.

Despite the early goal, the home’s side plans were disrupted almost immediately as captain Bilal Mohammed was taken off due to injury and was replaced by Majdi Siddiq.

By the 16th minute, Al Nasr had pulled level. Morimoto’s run through the middle caused consternation in the Al Gharfa defence before the former Catania striker laid the ball off to Bruno Cesar, whose return pass gave Morimoto the space to slot the ball to Qasem Burhan’s left.

Djibril Cisse and Alex both had efforts to restore Al Gharafa’s lead as the half wore on but it was not until 10 minutes into the second 45 minutes that the Qataris reclaimed their advantage.

Nene stormed down the inside left channel before rolling the ball across the edge of the penalty area to Cisse and, although the former Marseille striker’s shot was saved, Nene was on hand to side-foot home the rebound.

Cisse almost claimed a third for Al Gharafa 17 minutes from time when his mid-air flick with his right foot went narrowly wide of Shambiah’s left post but, with 10 minutes remaining, Al Shammari put the result beyond any doubt with an unstoppable header from an Alex (Alex Raphael Meschini) corner.

In another match, Qatar’s El Jaish held hosts Al Jazira of UAE to a 1-1 draw. With a third defeat in Group A potentially ending Al Jazira’s campaign after they reached the Round of 16 for the first time last year, Sultan Barghash opened the scoring for home side midway through the first half.

But Brazilian striker Adriano (Adriano Ferreira Martins) equalised for the visitors before half-time at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, and with Saudi champions Al Shabab securing qualification with a 1-0 win over Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz, Al Jazira find themselves three points adrift of second place El Jaish with two games remaining.

With a third defeat of the campaign potentially ending Al Jazira’s campaign, the UAE Pro League side made a bright start following last week’s 3-1 defeat in Qatar as Ricardo Oliveria flashed an effort just wide of the El Jaish upright after 14 minutes.

And last year’s AFC Champions League top scorer played his part in the home side opening the scoring 11 minutes later as the Brazilian surged into the left side of the El Jaish penalty area before pulling the ball back for Barghash to guide a first-time finish past Brazil-born naturalised Qatari goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodrigues

But the lead lasted just eight minutes as Adriano spun away from Al Jazira defender Hamad Al Hammadi, with one touch creating space from Mohd Methnani’s cross, before dispatching a clinical finish past the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Ali Khaseif.

And Khaseif had to be on his toes four minutes after the break to keep out a dipping effort from Wagner Ribeiro as El Jaish looked for a second win of the campaign.

But with neither side able to find a further breakthrough, El Jaish will entertain Al Shabab in two weeks while Tractorsazi will travel to Abu Dhabi with three teams still in the hunt for the final berth in the last 16.