Al Gharafa beat Al Rayyan 3-2 in Week 20 of the 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium on Thursday.

Al Gharafa’s goals were scored by Almahdi Ali (47th minute), Cheikh Diabate (55th minute) and Sofiane Hanni (90+1), while James Rodriguez (38th minute) and Hashem Ali (71st minute) scored for Al Rayyan.

Al Gharafa took their points tally to 30 with their ninth victory and Al Rayyan remained on 18 points following their ninth defeat.

Al Rayyan have a game in hand as their Week 14 match (Qatar Clasico) against new champions Al Sadd was postponed.

Al Gharafa had beaten Al Rayyan 2-0 in the first leg of 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League.

Both teams have great tradition and passionate fan base, and are traditional strong forces in Qatar football. The encounter lived up to its top billing.

After taking the lead through Colombian star Rodriguez’s wonderful touch following a corner kick, Al Rayyan intensified pressure to score the second goal.

Yacine Brahimi passed a neat ball to Rodriguez in the 42nd minute inside the penalty area, but the latter’s shot hit the left post of goalkeeper Yousef Hassan.

In the second half, Al Gharafa intensified their offensive activity and exerted great pressure in order to equalize. And they soon managed to draw parity through Almahdi’s header.

The equalizer spurred Al Gharafa players on and they went 2-1 up before long through Diabate.

Action now hotted up and Hashem Ali put Al Rayyan on equal terms.

As the match headed for a draw came Hanni’s goal in stoppage time off a brilliant pass from Gabriel Perez.