Al Ahli and Al Shamal played out a 1-1 draw in Week 17 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium on Friday.

The two injury-time goals came through Julian Draxler (90+2 minute) for Al Ahli to move them to 29 points in the standings, while Naim Sliti (90+5 minute) scored for Al Shamal as they now have 23 points at the end of the highly-entertaining match.

Both teams gave very good accounts of themselves, making it a worthwhile evening for the fans as they got good value for their money with the wonderful, entertaining football on display.

Despite several goal attempts, no one could break the deadlock with the tight defence showcased by both sides until Al Shamal’s Jeison Murillo nodded home from very close range following a corner in the 20th minute. The celebration of the goal, however, only lasted for a few seconds as it was stood down after a lengthy VAR check for a push by the Colombian international before the header.

Baghdad Bounedjah’s 45th-minute goal was also chalked off for an offside position as both sides headed into the dugout for the halftime break with no goals on either side.

Al Ahli seemed to gain the upper hand on the resumption of the second half, as they were the more attacking of the duo, with their forwards mounting unrelenting pressure on their opponents’ defence.

The Brigadiers disappointingly missed what could have been the opening goal of the match in the 56th minute, with Al Shamal goalkeeper Babacar Seck brilliantly saving a penalty kick from Oumar Sekou, who was earlier brought down by Murillo in a goalbound situation.

With the match seemingly heading for a goalless draw, Draxler changed the situation for Al Ahli two minutes into added time with a left-footed shot from the centre of the box from a great assist by Exposito.

The match experienced more late drama as Al Shamal got even three minutes later through Sliti, whose long-range angled shot from a pass by Marwan Brimil caught goalkeeper Marwan Badreldin napping.

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