Al Shamal were left to rue a late penalty miss as Al Gharafa shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in their Round 4, Group B match of the 2024-2025 season QSL Cup at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium of Qatar SC on Saturday.

Al Gharafa goalkeeper Khalifa Ababacar Ndiaye made a superb save in the 85th minute as he dived to right and then turned about to stop another kick off the rebound by substitute Mahdi Salem to deny Al Shamal the advantage.

Earlier in the 73rd minute, Fabricio Diaz scored from the spot for Al Gharafa to draw parity after Suhaib Gannan had put Al Shamal in the front in the 38th minute.

The solitary point from the result took Al Shamal’s tally to five points in third place in the group standings, while Al Gharafa with one point stay fifth.

Group B also includes Al Wakrah, Umm Salal and Al Khor.

While Al Shamal were more attacking of the two sides in the match, they lacked in finishing against a challenging Al Gharafa defence.

Al Shamal went up the lead after Omar Mohamed grabbed a long ball in the midfield and passed it down left for Gannan to run into the box before moving right to beat an advancing goalkeeper and a defender.

Later, in the 69th minute, Gannan made a fine move to provide Omar with a good chance, but his kick failed to beat the goalkeeper.

Five minutes later, Al Gharafa’s Saifeldeen Fadalla was felled inside the danger zone by Al Shamal’s Mowafak Awad and the referee called for a penalty which was coolly scored by Diaz.

Soon, Omar Mohammed again was in the striking zone for Al Shamal, but this time his kick just went wide of the left post.

Another opportunity was presented to Al Shamal as Dami Traori fouled Al Gharafa’s Mahdi Salem inside an empty danger area. But Mahdi’s spot kick and second shot on rebound were both stopped by Ababacar - who made a total of five saves to his counterpart Oumar Barry’s two in the match.