A late strike from substitute Abdulrahmad Mohamed gave Al Ahli a thrilling 2-1 win over Al Khor in the Ooredoo Stars League on Friday.
At the Al Thumama Stadium, former Paris Saint-Germain star Julain Draxler put Ahli ahead in the 68th minute, but Sofian Hanni’s 85th minute equaliser for Al Khor set up a grand stand finish. However, Abdulrahmad – who is on loan from Al Duhail – calmed the nerves in the Ahli camp with a winner in the 90th minute as they stay second in table with seven points, one ahead of defending champions Al Sadd.
Meanwhile, Al Wakrah will occupy the fourth position ahead of the international break after they beat Al Shahania on Friday. A 74th minute header from Ricardo Gomes turned out to the difference at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. Al Shahania with two points are 11th.
Al Shahania who were dogged in defence for most part of the match, were reduced to 10-man in the 39th minute when Hossam Kamal Hassunin was shown the red card for landing his boot on the left knee of Al Wakrah’s Ayoub Assal while going for a high ball. The setback however didn’t deter Al Shahania from fighting hard against an attacking Al Wakrah, who made a racy start to the game and in the very fifth minute Hassan unleashed a booming shot from left outside the box but his left-footer hit the crossbar and almost shook the goal post.
Two minutes later, Al Wakrah’s Aissa Laidouni lobbed in a ball for Gomes to go on and score. But VAR found the player to be offside and the big celebrations of the team were muted.
The Cheetahs’ hard efforts finally succeeded when they won a corner. The measured kick from the right was anticipated by Gomes superbly as he overlapped a defender to make the header.
Al Shahania now looked to attack and they did admirably so coming close to scoring on a few occasions. Towards the end, substitute Lotfi Majder provided a good pass to another sub Mohamed Ismail but the latter couldn’t control the ball and hit it out. Almost at the end of stoppage time, Majder again made an assist but this time Francesco Antonucci’s kick was saved by the outstretched right hand of Al Wakrah goalkeeper Mohamed al-Burke.
In another match on Friday, Al Gharafa rode on a brace from Florinel Coman to beat Al Rayyan 2-1 at the Al Bayt Stadium. It was also The Cheetahs’ first win of the league following a loss in the previous round to Al Ahli, and a goalless draw against Al Khor in the opening round.
Al Rayyan, who looked more threatening of the two sides, took the lead in the 65th minute through Roger Guedes before Al Gharafa hit back with Romanian player Coman scoring in the 70th and 83rd minutes of the match.
There was a lot more thrill in the last fifteen minutes of the match including ten minutes of added time as The Lions tried hard to get an equalizer while Al Gharafa missed some close chances. The win took Al Gharafa’s to fifth with four points while Al Rayyan, with two losses and one win, are eighth with three points.
Al Rayyan’s first chance of going up the lead came in the 11th minute as Gabriel Pereira worked his way through to provide a fine assist to Guedes but the latter hit wide to the left of the target.
Moments later, Al Gharafa captain Ferjani Sassi unleashed a rasping shot from outside the box but his kick just went past the top right corner of the post.
Al Gharafa’s biggest chance of the opening half came in 45+6th minute as Jamal Hamed Mayor while having only the goalkeeper to beat, kicked the ball out to the right. Soon after half time, Al Rayyan’s Pereira sized up a shot from strikes from inside the box but saw the ball go past the top left corner.
The deadlock was eventually broken as Al Rayyan made the most of a corner kick which was first headed by Andre Amaro but the ball went right where a waiting Guedes headed again to score.
It didn’t take long for Al Gharafa to hit back. Rabeh Yahia Boussafi just after coming in as a substitute made a brilliant through pass with his left foot from the midfield which went to Joselu who struggled to control but an alert Coman lunged ahead to make the strike. It was a fast-paced action and the goal thrilled the fans.
The tempo of the match continued and in the 78th minute, Al Gharafa picked on a defensive lapse snatch of Al Rayyan but Coman’s kick this time failed to beat goalkeeper Sami Beldy.
Four minutes later, Al Rayyan launched an offensive but this time Al Gharafa custodian Khalifa Ababacar held on to a strong Pereira kick.
In a riposte, Al Gharafa launched a counter and Jamal Hamed moved into the rival’s penalty area from the left to unleash a left-foot kick which was deflected by a diving Beldy and the ball went to a waiting Coman, who went a little right to make space and strike to fetch the lead. The shot beat the goalkeeper to his right.
Later, in the third minute of stoppage time, Al Gharafa’s Joselu had an open chance but he ran too deep and his shot from the left failed to beat the outstretched right leg of the goalkeeper.