Al Gharafa players celebrate.
Doha: Former champions Al Gharafa yesterday stunned Al Duhail 3-0 in a Round 6 clash of the QNB Stars League at the Grand Hamad Stadium. Moiad Hassan (41 and 59) scored two goals while Ahmed Alaaeildin Abdelmotaal (87) added one in the second half as Al Gharafa posted their fourth win from six rounds.
Al Gharafa – coached by Slavisa Jokanovic - have 12 points while Al Duhail – coached by Sabri Lamouchi - are pegged at 9 points from six matches. In the 6th minute, Al Gharafa’s Ahmed Abdelmotaal – stationed close to the edge of the Al Duhail box - received a long cross from the half-line. Despite being chased by a couple of Al Duhail markers, Abdelmotaal ran a little wide and then fired a shot that sailed above the Al Duhail crossbar in what was the first real attempt at goal.
A couple of minutes later, Al Gharafa’s Sofiane Hanni got the chance to aim at the goal from inside the box but the Algerian midfielder had little pace on his shot to worry keeper Mohammed Albakri. After a few hits and misses, Al Duhail’s Eduardo Rodrigues fired a bullet from the edge of the box but young Al Gharafa keeper Salah Hassan produced a dive to deflect the ball away in the 17th minute. Seven minutes later, Al Duhail’s Muhammed Muntari curled in a free kick that was once again spiritedly saved by young Hassan. In the 41st minute, Al Gharafa opened the scoring with a miraculous run by Hassan who ran solo for almost one third of the entire pitch.
After receiving a cross from the center, Hassan – stationed on the flank- charged ahead with the ball with Sultan Hussain AlBrake giving hot chase. Karim Boudiaf and Mohamed Emad Aiash and Muntari also jumped in to stop Hassan who after reaching inside the box produced a leftfooted drive to score to the left of the keeper.
It was celebration time for Al Gharafa as Qatar national coach Felix Sanchez watched from the stands. Six minutes into the second half, feared striker Almoez Ali looked for the net from inside the Al Gharafa box but keeper Hassan palmed away the fastpaced shot.
Three minutes from the hour-mark, Hanni curled in a long-range free-kick but Almahdi Mukhtar – camped inside the Al Duhail box – could not generate angle on his header. In the 59th minute, Hassan beat Al Duhail star Boudiaf with pace by grabbing a long cross first. After running a couple of yards with the ball, Hassan fired from the edge of the box to score his team’s second goal with a right-foot drive that stayed low on its way into the net. Abdelmotaal tapped one in late in the second half from close range. It was his second goal of the season.
