Al Gharafa lost 2-8 to Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in the fourth round of 2022 AFC Champions League Group C at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium in Jeddah on Monday.

It was a heartbreak for The Cheetahs, who had played out a 1-1 draw with Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in the third round.

Al Gharafa remained on five points, while Shabab Al Ahli Dubai moved on to six points with their first victory. They had drawn all their other matches to remain unbeaten.

It was Al Gharafa’s first defeat in the competition, where they are playing for the first time since 2018.

Al Gharafa played out a goalless draw with Iranian club Foolad Khouzestan in their opener and then beat Ahal FC of Turkmenistan by a 2-0 margin in the second round.

Thomas Olsen (14th minute and 40th minute), Harib Abdullah (42nd minute), Aziz Ganiev (50th minute and 83rd minute), Federico Cartabia (51st minute), and substitutes Mohammed Juma (66th minute) and Abdelaziz Sanqoor (78th minute) scored the goals for Shabab Al Ahli Dubai.

For Al Gharafa, Ahmed Alaaeldin (16th minute) and Sofiane Hanni (59th-minute penalty) found the target.

Al Gharafa could not do much on the night of Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, for whom Olsen and Ganiev stood out with a brace each.