Al Gharafa scored a valuable 2-0 win over Al Duhail in Week 19 of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Friday.

The win saw Al Gharafa move into the top four of the standings with a tally of 32 points from 19 matches while Al Duhail are second with a total of 42 points from 18 games. Al Arabi are at the top now with 43 points from 19 matches.

Ishak Belfodil (62nd minute) and Mouyad Hassan (90+6 minute) scored the goals for Al Gharafa, who displayed top form in the hard-fought win over title contenders Al Duhail.

The Cheetahs showed aggressive intent right from the start and made the most of their chances, whereas The Red Knights failed to score, faltering to find the target at crucial junctures.

The first big chance for Al Gharafa came in the 23rd minute when their Algerian star Yacine Brahimi weaved his way through to pass the ball to Ahmed Alaaeldin in great position, but he was foiled by advancing Al Duhail goalkeeper Salah Zakaria.

Al Duhail then had their chance in the 39th minute when Suhaib Gannan made a fine pass from near the goalline to Ferjani Sassi, whose kick deflected the ball, but it just went past the right post.

Ferjani had another chance in the 44th minute getting a cross from the right inside the ‘D’, but his kick this time hit the crossbar right in the centre to fall down straight but missed crossing the goal post line by a whisker.

Both teams went into the break goalless.

The close finishes seemed to have unnerved Al Duhail as Al Gharafa continued to attack in the second session and they got the reward part the hour mark when Belfodil dribbled past a challenging defender to successfully strike to the right of the net.

Trying to equalize, Al Duhail became more aggressive, but were not clinical. In the 67th minute, a powerful Karim Boudiaf kick went over the bar and, two minutes later, he again could not find the target with another kick.

In the 79th minute, Ferjani was provided with a super cross but, this time too he shot over the post.

With Al Duhail frantic, Al Gharafa seized another moment in stoppage time as Mouyad struck powerfully from well outside the box to rattle the left of the net, much to the delight of celebrating home fans.