Al Gharafa rode on a brace from Florinel Coman to beat Al Rayyan 2-1 in Week 3 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Al Bayt Stadium on Friday.

It was also The Cheetahs’ first win of the league following a loss in the previous round to Al Ahli and a goalless draw against Al Khor in the opening round.

Al Rayyan, who looked more threatening of the two sides, took the lead in the 65th minute through Roger Guedes before Al Gharafa hit back, with Romanian player Coman scoring in the 70th and 82nd minutes of the match.

There was a lot more thrill in the last 15 minutes of the match including 10 minutes of added time as The Lions tried hard to get an equalizer, while Al Gharafa missed some close chances.

The win took Al Gharafa’s points tally to four, while Al Rayyan, with two losses and one win, stayed on three points.

Al Rayyan’s first chance of going up the lead came in the 11th minute as Gabriel Pereira worked his way through to provide a fine assist to Roger Guedes, but the latter hit wide to the left of the target.

In the 20th minute, Coman missed a header for Al Gharafa.

Moments later, Al Gharafa captain Ferjani Sassi unleashed a rasping shot from outside the box but his kick just went past the top right corner of the post.

Al Gharafa’s biggest chance of the opening half came in 45+6 minute as Jamal Hamed Mayor, while having only the goalkeeper to beat, kicked the ball out to the right.

Soon after half-time, Al Rayyan’s Pereira sized up a shot from inside the ‘D’, but saw the ball go past the top left corner.

The deadlock was eventually broken as Al Rayyan made the most of a corner kick which was first headed by Andre Amaro, but the ball went right where a waiting Guedes headed again to score.

It did not take long for Al Gharafa to hit back. Rabeh Yahia Boussafi just after coming in as a substitute made a brilliant through pass with his left foot from the midfield which went to Joselu who struggled to control but an alert Coman lunged ahead to make the strike. It was a fast-paced action and the goal thrilled the fans.

The tempo of the match continued and, in the 78th minute, Al Gharafa picked on a defensive lapse snatch of Al Rayyan, but Coman’s kick this time failed to beat goalkeeper Sami Beldy.

Four minutes later, Al Rayyan launched an offensive, but this time Al Gharafa custodian Khalifa Ababacar held on to a strong Pereira kick.

In a riposte, Al Gharafa launched a counter and Jamal Hamed moved into the rival’s penalty area from the left to unleash a left-foot kick which was deflected by a diving Beldy and the ball went to a waiting Coman, who went a little right to make space and strike to fetch the lead. The shot beat the goalkeeper to his right.

Later, in the third minute of stoppage time, Al Gharafa’s Joselu had an open chance, but he ran too deep and his shot from the left failed to beat the outstretched right leg of the goalkeeper.