(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fawad Hussain |
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Yacine Brahimi struck a second half equaliser against Al Wakrah as Al Gharafa returned to the expo Stars League (ESL) summit with a 1-1 draw in a top-of-the-table clash yesterday.
Also, Al Rayyan thrashed Al Ahli 4-0 while Qatar SC fought back to edge Muaither 3-2 in thriller, thanks to a stoppage time winner by Badr Benoun.
At Thani Bin Jassim Stadium, Brahimi, who missed a scoring opportunity in the first half and saw his fine hit from outside the box blocked by Al Wakrah goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater in the second half, struck the leveler in 67th minute from a close range.
Jacinto Dala had handed the lead to the Blue Wave after a defensive error following a corner kick, slotting the ball to the left corner in 31st minute.
The coveted point put Al Gharafa back on top with 23 points, with a slender one point lead over Al Sadd, who have two postponed matches remaining.
Al Wakrah, who have 18 points following the draw, slipped to fourth with Al Rayyan grabbing the third place after taking their tally to 19 points with an outstanding performance at Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium.
The Lions, who went ahead in the fourth minute through a Rodrego Moreno goal, scored their remaining goals after Al Ahli's Abdulrasheed Umaru was sent off in 54th minute following a rough tackle.
Roger Guedes was star of the evening for Al Rayyan scoring a brace with hits in 65th and 85th minute with Achraf Bencharki (69th minute) being the other scorer.
While Al Rayyan climbed up following the win, Al Ahli dipped to tenth place in the standings with 9 points.
Meanwhile, Qatar SC's Benoun scored the winner in eighth minute of stoppage time, kicking the decider off a rebound after his header was saved by Muaither goalkeeper following a free kick at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium.
The game swung both ways as Yousef Mohammed put Qatar SC ahead in seventh minute with Muaither responding through Jamal Hamed (36th minute) and Ayman Hassouni (43rd-minute penalty) goals to take the lead.
Bruno Tabata leveled scores for Qatar SC by converting a 61st-minute penalty before Benoun gave Qatar SC full points with the winner.
Qatar SC are now in eighth place in the standings with 11 points, leaving Muaither reel at 11th with five points.
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