Al Gharafa rallied from being a goal down to beat Al Rayyan 3-2 in a thrilling Week 17 match of 2025-2026 season Doha Bank Stars League at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium on Thursday.

There was frenetic action in added time as Al Rayyan won a penalty and later Al Gharafa’s Saifeldeen Fadlalla was flashed with a red card in 90+12 minute.

The result saw The Cheetahs move into second in the standings with a total tally of 34 points, while Al Rayyan remained in fourth with 28 points.

Ferjani Sassi (57th minute), Amro Surag (61st minute) and Joselu (84th minute) struck for Al Gharafa, while Rodrigo Moreno (fourth minute) and Roger Guedes 90+1 minute penalty) scored for Al Rayyan.

Moreno had picked on an Aleksandar Mitrovic pass before shaping to fire diagonally into the right corner of the net.

Al Gharafa equalized after the break as an Alvaro Djalo cross from the right was deflected by a back flip attempt by Roger Guedes. It resulted in the ball moving towards a waiting Sassi and he struck.

Surag soon took Al Gharafa 2-1 up as he overlapped to pick a cross from Joselu to score from centre in front of the goal.

Surag later provided a fine assist for Al Gharafa to add the third with Joselu striking from just outside the box.

Al Rayyan tried to hit back after gaining a penalty in stoppage time, but Al Gharafa held on for a valuable win.