Al Ahli rallied to hold a challenging Muaither to a 1-1 draw in Week 16 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium of Al Ahli club on Tuesday.

Al Ahli not only had to battle hard and for long before overcoming the deficit after they conceded an own goal, but also had to survive some anxious moments towards the end.

While Al Ahli’s Under-21 player Eissa Elnagar conceded an own goal in the ninth minute of the match, Julian Draxler scored fabulously in the 87th minute to draw parity for his team against Muaither.

The steadily momentum-gaining Muaither, who now have not lost in their last three games of the league, almost gained a winner in stoppage time (90+2 minute) when Yazan Al Arab made a feeble attempt while being in the air, but Al Ahli’s Jassim Mohammed made a frantic save with his head while standing right on the line at the goal.

The result saw Al Ahli continue to be eighth in the standings with 16 points, while Muaither moved up to 11 points, but still being in the relegation zone in 11th place.

Their rankings notwithstanding, Muaither showed a lot of determination despite having lesser ball possession than their fancied rivals.

The opening goal was also a result of Muaither’s good co-ordination following a corner kick which was first headed by Tiago Leonco before Hugo Gomes, stationed just near the right post, lunged forward to make another connection and the ball hit Al Ahli’s Elnagar to ricochet into the goal.

While Al Ahli tried hard to retaliate, they were held back by the strong defence of Muaither. They eventually managed to get the equalizer following a free-kick taken by Draxler.

The German made a spectacular kick from about 10 yards away from the top of the box and the kick flew over a four-man wall and swerved in from the right and beat the goalkeeper to his right in the top corner.

The goal set up more exciting action as both sides looked for a winning strike. But while Muaither came close with a last-gasp effort, they had to settle for a stalemate.