Sassi’s strike sends Gharafa through to group stage

Ferjani Sassi’s second half strike sealed Qatar’s Al Gharafa a 1-0 win over Shabab Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates in their AFC Champions League Elite Preliminary Stage 2 fixture at the Al Bayt Stadium on Tuesday.

The victory secured Al Gharafa a place in the AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 group stage while Shabab Al Ahli will compete in the AFC Champions League Two 2024/25 with the draw for both competitions to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday.

The home side started brightly and their high tempo approach almost opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Joselu’s shot struck the post after a throw-in. Moments later, Jamal Hamed saw his effort off a rebound denied by Shabab Al Ahli keeper Hassan Hamza, who foiled Florinel Coman’s effort shortly after.

Shabab Al Ahli had a chance to respond in the ninth minute but Breno Cascardo’s header was comfortably saved by Al Gharafa keeper Khalifa Ababacar.

The Qatari side continued to press and came close to scoring with Fabricio Diaz forcing another fine save from Hamza in the 13th minute, who then needed to be at full stretch to tip away the deflected effort from distance. The visitors had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock in the 23rd minute but Yuri Cesar pulled his shot wide, while Al Gharafa came close again in the 37th minute when Assim Madibo just failed to find the net off his free-kick.

Al Gharafa started from where they left off in the second half and kept Shabab Al Ahli on their toes with Diaz testing Hamza from distance before Jang Hyun-soo angled his headed attempt wide from the ensuing corner.

Shabab Al Ahli’s defence finally succumbed in the 50th minute when Sassi combined well with Diaz before the Uruguayan sent a well-timed cross for Sassi to finish with a thumping header to give Al Gharafa a deserved lead.

Shabab Al Ahli came close to levelling the score three minutes later, Ababacar having to be at his best to deny Breno Cascardo’s curling effort from inside the area.

In an effort to salvage their hopes, Shabab Al Ahli head coach Paulo Sousa introduced Gaston Suarez, Sardar Azmoun and Guilherme Bala into the mix but it was to no avail as Al Gharafa hung on for the win and a place in the top tier of Asian club football.