Al Gharafa blanked Umm Salal 2-0 in Week 10 of the 2019-20 QNB Stars League at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Saturday.

Hector Moreno (second minute) and Sofiane Hanni (24th-minute penalty) scored the goals as Al Gharafa surged to 20 points with their sixth victory.

On the other hand, Umm Salal’s woes compounded as they stood on five points. They are only one point ahead of bottom-placed Al Shahania.

Al Gharafa thus continued their winning ways, having beaten Al Khor 3-1 in the previous round. The Cheetahs kept their third position in the standings, behind Al Duhail (26) and Al Rayyan (22).

Slavisa Jokanovic’s side is well in contention for a top-four finish as the QNB Stars League takes a long break now.

Umm Salal had appointed their former captain Aziz Ben Askar as coach, replacing Ahmed Labiath who was the caretaker after the dismissal of Spaniard Raul Caneda following a series of negative results.

However, The Orange Fortress crashed to their seventh defeat and stay in the danger zone. It has been a different Umm Salal, who used to regularly make a respectable finish in the league, so far this season.

Hanni and Adlene Guedioura led Al Gharafa’s charge, while Mahmoud Al Mawas and Yannick Sagbo were Umm Salal’s main attackers.

Al Gharafa, as expected, dominated possession and were effective in taking advantage of the chances that came their way.

Umm Salal had their opportunities as well, but were unfortunate not to have found the target.

Moreno first struck home from close range and Hanni converted the penalty awarded after Umm Salal captain Sagbo handled the ball in the area.

Al Gharafa also had Almahdi Ali to thank for making a goalline save.