Al Gharafa went back to the top of the Expo Stars League despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Al Wakrah at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium yesterday.Jacinto Dala opened the scoring for Al Wakrah in the 31st minute before Yacine Brahimi restored parity for Al Gharafa in the 67th minute. The Cheetahs increased their points tally to 23, one more than Al Sadd, who though have played two games less. Wakrah, meanwhile, stay at fourth place with 18 points.The first main chance of the game fell to Al Wakrah’s Mohamed Benyettou in the seventh minute and the Algerian forward was almost bagging the goal before the flag went up for an offside. Al Gharafa got their own chance at an opening goal in the 17th minute through Yacine Brahimi, but his right-footed shot from the left side of the box, after an inch-perfect assist from Yohan Boli, missed to the right.While Al Gharafa did most of the work for the better part of the first half, it was Al Wakrah, however, that opened the scoring in the 31st minute of play, with Dala taking advantage of Al Gharafa’s defensive error after an Al Wakrah corner kick to hammer home a left-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner of Al Gharafa goalkeeper Khalifa Ababacar’s net.As much as Al Gharafa tried to restore parity, the first half ended with Al Wakrah firmly in the driver’s seat of the high-intensity match.The Cheetahs began the second half from where they stopped in the first with waves of attack on Al Wakrah, who were resolute in protecting their lone-goal lead.Brahimi struck at Al Wakrah’s goal with a powerful right-footed shot from outside the box in the 52nd minute, but goalkeeper Saoud al-Khater broke no sweat in saving it. After several attempts at goal, Brahimi could not be denied for too long by Al Wakrah as he got Al Gharafa back in the game in the 67th minute with a right-footed shot from very close range, following a cross from substitute Ahmed al-Janahi that goalkeeper al-Khater could only watch as it sailed into the net.Meanwhile, Al Rayyan climbed to third place with a 4-0 win over Al Ahli at the Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium.Rodrego Moreno (4th minute), Roger Guedes (65th & 85th minute) and Achraf Bencharki (69th minute) scored for the winners. Al Ahli were reduced to 10-men in the 54th minute of the match when they lost Abdulrasheed Umaru to a red card following a rough tackle. Five minutes later, Al Rayyan’s Osamah al-Tairi survived a red card call after a VAR check.Al Rayyan made their intentions clear as they made a robust start with Brazilian Rodrigo breaking down from the left and going past four defenders unleashed a rampaging drive into the far right corner of the net.With Al Ahli receiving a further setback in the second session losing Umaru, Al Rayyan were in complete attack and cruise mode as Brazilian Guedes came up with a brace, besides providing a fine assist.Guedes’ first act followed a keen tussle near the flag kick when Gabriel Pereira won the ball and moved it back in Al Rayyan’s possession. Abdulaziz Hatem then sent down a through ball to a rushing Guedes to make a left-footed shot from a difficult angle on the left to the high centre of the goal.Minutes later, Guedes provided Bencharki with a superb through ball on a counter-attack to move in from the left and score. With Ahli unable to make much forays and Al Rayyan repeatedly raising the rival citadel, the fourth goal was realized by Guedes through a header after Khaled Binsabaa recovered despite falling down to make a superb lob from the left.In the other match, a last-gaps goal from Badr Benoun saw Qatar SC pull off a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Muaither at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium.The see-saw thriller was turned on its head by Qatar SC’s Moroccan star as he pounced on a perfect free-kick from Bashar Resan to first make a header and then score with a kick after the ball was kept out by the goalkeeper. The winner also undid all the hard work of Muaither, who led 2-1 at half-time.Besides Benoun (90+8 minute), Yousef Mohammed (seventh minute) and Bruno Tabata (61st-minute penalty) were the goal getters for Qatar SC. Jamal Hamed (36th minute) and Ayman Hassouni (43rd-minute penalty) scored for Muaither.
December 03, 2023 | 12:38 AM