Ahmad al-Mohannadi scored a brace as Al Khor struck three goals in the final 11 minutes to blank Al Gharafa 3-0 in fifth round Group B match of QSL Cup and secure passage into quarter-finals.
Al-Mohannadi struck in the 89th and 90+5 minute while Abdulrahman Rashed Juma scored the opening goal in the 84th minute for Al Khor. The much-needed win took Al Khor’s tally to 4 points (with 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses) while Al Gharafa with a solitary point (1 draw and 3 losses) failed to make the grade. The other teams from the group to qualify for the quarter-finals are Al Wakrah (10 points), and Umm Salal and Al Shamal (with 6 points each).
Both teams began the crucial contest on a cautious note. It was Al Gharafa who first looked to make a breakthrough but their attempts were foiled in the 39th and 43rd minutes by alert Al Khor defence especially their goalkeeper Ali Nader Mahmoud.
Al Khor picked pace towards the latter part of the opening half and in added time an al-Mohannadi long range strike rattled the crossbar. Al Khor’s persistent efforts paid dividends late in the second half and the deadlock was broken when Juma fired a long ranger that beat the opposition all ends up.
Five minutes later, al-Mohannadi, after receiving a good assist, was marked in a man-to-man situation but executed a superb kick for the ball to curl under the crossbar and into the net.
Al-Mohannadi returned to score a second time. After substitute Ibrahim Nasser Kalla’s kick at goal was pushed away by the Al Gharafa custodian Lecoumet Kloud Amin, the ball found a waiting al-Mohannadi and he struck gleefully to make it 3-0 in his team’s favour.
In the group’s other match of day, played at the Al Khor Stadium, Al Shamal and Al Wakrah shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw. While Farid Boulaya scored for Al Wakrah in the 69th minute, Mohamed Omar equalised for Al Shamal in the 84th minute.
Al Khor’s Ahmad al-Mohannadi celebrates after scoring against Al Gharafa yesterday.
