Al Gharafa beat Al Arabi 5-4 in another action-packed clash in Week 8 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium of Al Sadd club on Friday.

Goalkeeper Khalifa Ababacar turned out to be the hero for Al Gharafa making a penalty save in 90+4 minute, securing a sixth win of the season for his team.

The scorers for Al Gharafa were Yacine Brahimi (fourth-minute penalty), Ferjani Sassi (15th minute), Ahmed Al Janehi (28th minute), Yohan Boli (53rd minute) and Farid Boulaya (89th minute).

Omar Al Somah (10th, 34th and 83rd minutes) and Yousef Msakni (44th-minute penalty) were on target for Al Arabi.

The win helped Al Gharafa move on to 19 points from eight games, the same as Al Sadd but behind on goal difference, while Al Arabi remained on six points from seven matches.

The highly-anticipated contest was enjoyed by a sizeable crowd with fans supporting either teams. And it was a sizzling start as Al Gharafa seized early chance on a clearance error by Al Arabi goalkeeper Jassim Al Hail. As Brahimi made charge inside the ‘D’, Al Hail quickly kicked the ball along the ground which Farid Boulaya tried to reach but drew a foul being tackled from behind by Al Arabi’s Ahmed Fathi and thereby conceding a penalty. Brahimi scored from the spot to draw first blood (1-0).

The Dream Team hit back within minutes as Al Somah scored following a top-of-the-box tussle, firing in off a volley after taking ball on his chest (1-1).

The Cheetahs provided their own version of an answer as an unmarked Ferjani essayed a super strike from 10 yards outside the box straight into the high centre of the goal (2-1).

Al Gharafa added a third 13 minutes later as Al Arabi goalkeeper Al Hail again made the mistake of making a lazy clearance and a lurking Al Janehi jumped ahead of Marco Verratti to kick the ball and score even as the goalkeeper threw his hands in disgust (3-1).

The riveting action just did not stop as Al Arabi fought back again and Msakni picked on a through ball inside the danger area to dribble past Al Gharafa goalkeeper Khalifa Ababacar, who had rushed out, and lob a cross to an unmarked Al Somah on the left to head successfully (3-2).

Al Arabi levelled again ahead of half-time as Al Somah provided a golden pass from top of the box and Msakni broke through, but was felled by Al Gharafa’s Abdalla Yousef resulting in a penalty. Msakni scored and drew parity at 3-3.

After the break, Al Gharafa went ahead again as Boli collected an Al Janehi cross inside the penalty area and scored to the left of the goalkeeper (4-3).

Just when Al Gharafa appeared to be holding sway and keeping the rivals at bay, The Dream Team produced an electric setpiece moment which brought the crowd to their feet again.

Al Somah scored off a free-kick which raced past ‘the wall’ beating the man on the right and curled into the goal (4-4).

But the shot-for-shot affair meant that Al Gharafa would attack again and they did provide an answer with an all-the-more fabulous free-kick from Boulaya and from almost 40 yards. The kick sailed over all and dipped into the top left corner of the goal, taking with it goalkeeper Al Hail into the net (5-4).

The added time then had to offer an anti-climax of the night for Al Arabi after VAR confirmed a hand of Ferjani resulting in a penalty. Msakni stepped up, but his kick was stopped in the bottom right corner by Ababacar.

Two minutes later, Msakni hit the right post to sum up the see-saw contest and the lack of luck for Al Arabi.