Qatar Stars League Week 6

Al Gharafa claws back to thrilling draw

Qatar Stars League holders Al Gharafa are fighters to the core. Against Al Rayyan, they went behind thrice, but came back each time to eke out a hard-fought draw. In the process, Al Rayyan lost a chance to earn a morale-boosting win over the defending champions, who have not been in good form so far in the tournament.

Brazilian Afonso Alves, an Al Sadd player last season, has been a big hit in the Al Rayyan camp. He did the star turn for them again, in the very first minute. Qatari player Jarallah Al Marri scored their second goal in the 33rd while Afonso scored his second in the 50th. Al Gharafa hit back through Brazilian Juninho (30th), Iraqi Youins Mahmoud (48th) and Meshaal Abdullah (67th).

The match was high on excitement and some of it spread onto the spectators, who had turned out in great numbers, as well. There were a few skirmishes and police intervened at half-time to restore peace.

Al Sadd did not have a great day, but still managed to win 3-0 against Umm Salal, who played for more than an hour with 10 men after Davi Jose was red-carded for a foul on South Korean defender Lee Jung-Soo in the 28th minute. The player’s loss wrecked havoc on their attacking ability and they never recovered.

Al Sadd's Ivorian striker Abdulkhader Keita gave them the lead in the 14th. Mohammed Abdulrab and Khalfan Ibrahim scored their other two goals in the 80th and 90th minutes respectively.

Al Arabi remained the only unbeaten team in the Qatar Stars League. Al Arabi and Lakhwiya, placed first and second respectively in the league table, played out an entertaining 1-1 draw. Al Arabi took the lead in the 48th minute through Mohsen Al Yazidi. Lakhwiya fought hard throughout and Khaled Muftah scored the equaliser for them in the 88th minute.

Qatar Sports Club played out a hotly-contested 0-0 draw against minnows Al Ahli, which also saw three red cards in all. Both teams wasted chances galore and Qatar SC will have no one to blame but themselves for the bad result. Three players – Abdullah Al Kuwari (Qatar SC), Wagner and Fabiano (both Al Ahli) – were given marching orders in the 90th for fighting.

In the other games, Al Kharaitiyat beat Al Khor 2-1 while Al Wakra played out a dull 0-0 draw against minnows Al Sailiya.

RESULTS

Al Arabi 1 v Lakhwiya 1
Al Wakra 0 v Al Sailiya 0
Al Gharafa 3 v Al Rayyan 3
Al Kharaitiyat 2 v Al Khor 1
Al Sadd 3 v Umm Salal 0
Qatar SC 0 Al Ahli 0

Taita T.S

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