Al Sailiya scored a convincing 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in Week 5 of the 2019-20 QNB Stars League at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Saturday.

Karim Ansari (36th minute), Boussoufa Mbark (67th minute) and Maher Yousef (74th minute) scored for Al Sailiya to overcome Ahmed Alaaeldin’s sixth-minute goal for Al Gharafa.

The second victory took Al Sailiya’s points tally to seven, while Al Gharafa stood on 10 points.

It also saw The Cheetahs’ unbeaten run come to an end. 

Even though Al Gharafa seized early advantage through Ahmed Alaaeldin, Al Sailiya matched their rivals ball for ball in the first half.

Al Gharafa’s attacks lacked teeth as the match wore on, much to the dismay of their home fans, even as The Peregrines grew into the game after the initial setback.

Al Sailiya reaped the rewards for displaying a cautious approach. Their goalkeeper Khalifa Aboobacker stood tall amid an onslaught of Al Gharafa raids right throughout the high-intensity game.

Khalifa was on hand to save an Othman Al Yahri shot on the hour mark, with Alaaeldin doing the spadework.

Before long, Al Sailiya equalised as Ansari chested home a corner kick.

Both teams had their share of chances in the second half.

While Al Gharafa’s offensives revolved around Sofiane Hanni, Al Sailiya’s Boussoufa and Mohammed Faisal made attempts at the rival goal.

Boussoufa then doubled the advantage with almost a solo effort off a counter-attack and Maher rounded off the score with a chip over the head of Al Gharafa goalkeeper Qasim Burhan after latching on to a through pass from Nadir Belhadj.