Al Kharaitiyat 2-0 Al Gharafa
Amar Osim’s men put an end to their two-match losing streak with two goals in either half to once again move away from the relegation zone.

The match was well controlled by Kharaitiyat and their lead never really looked in doubt as Gharafa failed to create many clear cut chances during the 90 minutes at the Al Khor stadium.

A ball down the right flank saw Yahia Kebe beat the off side trap and zero in on goal, the Burkinabé striker took the ball right to the byline before sending in a well-timed cross for Mohammed Abdulraab Alyazidi who tapped in the Thunder’s first of the night from close range (27’).

Gharafa had the majority of possession (57%) but despite this, they simply couldn’t break down a well organised Thunders defence today.



Both teams went into the tunnel but Gharafa knew that they would have to up the tempo if they were to stretch their opponents in the second half.

In the second half Kharaitiyat kept Gharafa largely at bay and as the two teams entered the final 10 minutes. It was looking increasing unlikely to be Gharafa’s day.

Then in the 86^th minute and against the run of play, a hopefull ball was booted towards Hassan Abdel Fattah, the Jodanian controlled well but was quickly closed down. Fattah though, managed to shoot from the tightest of angles and Gharafa keeper Qasem Burham had shocker as he failed to control a weak shot which deflected off his foot and into his own goal.

Gharafa’s players looked visibly frustrated in a match which they largely dominated, with a bit of afters thrown in at the final whistle, this was a night the Cheetahs will be keen to forget as soon as possible.



Al Arabi 1-0 Al Ahli
Al Arabi defeated Al Ahli by a solitary goal tonight in a tight and scrappy affair at home; in the end it took a penalty to break the deadlock with Paulinho tucking it away in the 28^th minute.

Arabi had come into the match after a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of El Jaish and were keen to turn the page with a positive result tonight. Ahli, on the other hand, had succumbed to another last-minute draw at the hands of Umm Salal, so the clash against Arabi was a must win game for the Brigadiers.

The match started with Ahli enjoying a large share of the possession and the first chance of the match fell to Al Ali striker Mubele whose shot hit the post in the 9^th minute.

In the 21^st minute Ahli coach Zlatko Kranjčar had to make an unscheduled change as defender Pejman Montazari looked to be in obvious discomfort. Johan Benson came in to replace the Iranian at the back.

However Benson didn’t last long either as he was handed a straight red card. It began with an attack by Ahli which fizzled out after Meshaal Abdullah was ruled for offside. Arabi then mounted a quick counter attack and Benson ended up fouling Yousef Ahmed inside the box. 

The penalty was awarded and the Ghanaian was given his marching orders. Al Ahli was now reduced to ten men and would have to play 60 minutes of football with a distinct disadvantage. Paulinho stepped up and converted the penalty to give Arabi the lead (28’).

After conceding Ahli were constantly chasing the game and did well to not concede further. They did create a few chances but frustratingly could not find the target. The Brigadiers had ten shots on goal but none were on target. Arabi on the other hand had 11 shots out of which, five were on target. 

Mubele had a great chance to earn an equalizer for Ahli in the 93^rd minute when he received a pass from Kabangu inside the box but his shot was desperately weak. It was a chance that went begging!

Arabi will be happy to have bagged all three points from this match, whilst Ahli have now dropped to eighth in the table.