Gharafa beat Kharaitiyat to lead Group B with maximum points
AL Gharafa beat Al Kharaitiyat 3-1 in Round 3 (Group B) of the 2020-21 season Ooredoo Cup at the Al Duhail Stadium on Wednesday.
With two straight wins, both teams went into the match knowing a win would secure the group’s top spot. Al Kharaitiyat struck first through Hassan in the halfhour mark, but their lead lasted only four minutes as Al Ahmed Al Janahi leveled the contest before Sofiane Hanni gave the lead to Gharafa before the interval and in the 90th minute Almahdi Ali completed the rout.
Al Gharafa moved to nine points with an all-win record as a result and Al Kharaitiyat stayed on six points.
Al Gharafa started strong, but it was Al Kharaitiyat who took the lead when Hassan Ali capitalised on a quick counter-attack and beat goalie Salah akaria before putting the ball home.
Al Gharafa didn’t have to wait long to equalise, and Ahmed Al Janahi was spot-on with a great assist from Jonathan Kodjia, who had a good game out there.
Kodjia gave the pass again as Hanni put Al Gharafa ahead in the first half of the injury.
Al Gharafa continued to press hard in the second half, even as Al Kharaitiyat was seeking to restore parity.
The Cheetahs rounded off the score in the last minute of
the game when Almahdi headed into a goal from Muad Hassan’s corner kick.
In the other match of the group, Al Arabi and Al Rayyan played an entertaining 1-1 draw in Round 3 (Group B) at Al Arabi Stadium on Wednesday.
Naif Abdulraheem Al Hadhrami ‘s fifth-minute goal gave Al Rayyan an early lead. Khalid Mubarak Al Naimi equalised Al Arabi in the 36th minute. Both teams demonstrated intent and the game witnessed dramatic moments throughout.
Naif was quick enough to take full advantage of the defense-splitting pass of Yohan Boli and beat the charged-out goalkeeper Sataa Al Abbasi even as Al Arabi settled down.
In the 20th minute, the arrowhead of Al Arabi’s attack Hamdi Harbaoui free-kick saw Al Rayyan goalkeeper Fahad
Younis come up with an equally brilliant save.
In the 28th minute as well, Fahad thwarted Hamdi.
Parity was restored when Khalid applied an opportunistic finish to a loose ball which Al Rayyan’s Gabriel Mercado, who mostly stands reliable at the rear, failed to clear.
Al Arabi took the field after resumption with a spate of substitutions, which saw Sebastian Soria, Mohammed Salah El Neel and Abdulla Al Marafi come in, as they sharpened their attack.
El Neel was unfortunate not to have scored around an hour into the game as his placing shot went narrowly wide after Yasir Abubaker did the hard work from the left flank.
Al Arabi too made a few replacements, with Mowafak Awad, Abdulaziz Hazaa and
Ali Ferydoon taking the field.
The stalemate continued and the teams shared points.
Al Arabi are on seven points with an unbeaten record, while Al Rayyan collected their first point.
Al Arabi earlier beat Al Ahli 5-1 and Umm Salal 3-0, whereas Al Rayyan previously lost 1-4 to Al Kharaitiyat and 0-2 to Al Gharafa.
Al Ahli and Umm Salal were locked in a draw of 1-1 in Round 3 at Al Arabi Stadium on Wednesday. New recruit Abdennour Belhocini scored for Umm Salal in the sixth minute by converting the penalty, awarded when Ibrahim Majed tripped Ismail Mahmoud in the area.
Al Ahli took a share of points through an own goal by Umm Salal’s Saoud Riaz in the 86th minute.