Al Gharafa ended their campaign by losing to Turkmenistan’s Ahal FC by a 2-4 margin in the sixth and final round of 2022 AFC Champions League in Group C at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on Tuesday.

It was Arslanmurat Amanov’s hat-trick (eighth and 70th-minute penalties, and 80th-minute goals) that powered Ahal to a convincing victory. Mirza Beknazarov scored their other goal in the 38th minute.

Muyad Hassan (35th minute) and Sofiane Hanni (90+4 minute penalty) scored Al Gharafa’s goals.

Al Gharafa ended with five points in third place and Ahal last in the group with four points.

Going into the match, both Al Gharafa and Ahal were out of contention for the knockout Round of 16 and the game was only of academic interest.

Al Gharafa had lost 0-1 to Iran’s Foolad Khouzestan in the fifth round.

The Cheetahs had played out a goalless draw with Foolad in their opener and then beat Ahal 2-0 in the second round.

Al Gharafa were held to a 1-1 draw by Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in the third round and lost to the same team by a 2-8 margin in the fourth round, in the back-to-back match.

The top team from each group will qualify for the Round of 16 along with the three best second-placed teams from the five West Asia groups.