Al Gharafa and Al Sadd in six goal thriller

Al Gharafa and Al Sadd shared six goals in a scintillating QSL encounter. Al Gharafa raced into a two goal lead, before coming from behind to take a 3-2 lead. Pedro Caxina’s side left it late to find a equaliser thanks to Ghanaian central defender Rashid Sumaila.

It didn’t take long for the hosts to score the first goal as Hungarian international Krisztián Németh found the net in the sixth minute. The ball came in as a cross from the left and the Al Sadd keeper, Saad Al Dossari, leaped up to get the ball however he fumbled it and Németh pounced on the ball and put it into the net to make it 1-0.

In the twenty fourth minute Othman Al Yahri doubled the Cheetah’s advantage. The Qatari midfielder made a diagonal run beating the Sadd offside trap and found himself on the end of an incisive pass with all the Al Sadd defenders behind him. The twenty three year old ran with the ball into the box skipped past the keeper and guided the ball home to make it 2-0.



Just a minute later Al Sadd got a goal of their own to mount their spectacular comeback.
Summer signing Jugurtha Hamroun reduced the lead to 2-1 with a headed goal. Abdelkarim Hassan sent in a cross from the left and the ball pin balled inside the Al Gharafa box Ali Asad’s thunderous shot hit the cross bar and came  into the path of Hamroun who easily headed it in of the bounce.

Al Sadd’s captain fantastic, Xavi also found the net in this game as he levelled the score line with his well taken goal. Baghdad Bounedjah picked out the Spanish superstar’s run behind the far post and made a clever pass. Xavi then slotted it into the net from a tight angle to make it two all after thirty five minutes.

Towards the end of the first half Abdelkarim Hassan scored a spectacular goal to give the Wolves the lead. The young Qatari international nutmeged Al Gharafa’s Mustafa Abdulla before sending a powerful shot into the far corner to give Al Sadd the lead going into half time.

Credit to Al Gharafa they pushed hard for an equalizer and the Cheetahs found their mark with three minutes left to play. Ghanian defender Rashid Sumaila powerfully headed in from an incoming corner to give Pedro Caxinia’s men a deserved share of the spoils.