DOHA (Qatar): Al Gharafa upset defending champions Al Duhail 3-0 in the Qatar Stars League here at the Grand Hamad Stadium (Al Arabi Club) on Sunday.
Moayad Hassan scored twice in the 41st and 59th minute while Ahmed Alaa added the third in the 87th minute.
Gharafa now have 12 points to be third on the table while Duhail are stuck at fourth with nine points.
It was the third defeat for Duhail in the league from 6 matches.
In the sixth minute, Ahmed Alaaeldin, stationed close to the edge of the Al Duhail box, received a long cross from the half-line. Despite being chased by a couple of Al Duhail markers, he ran a little wide and then fired a shot that sailed above the Al Duhail crossbar in what was the first real attempt at goal.
A couple of minutes later, Al Gharafa’s Sofiane Hanni got a chance to aim at the goal from inside the box, but the Algerian midfielder had little pace on his shot to worry goalkeeper Mohammed Al Bakri.
After a few hits and misses, Al Duhail’s Eduardo Rodrigues fired a bullet from the edge of the box, but young Al Gharafa keeper Salah Hassan produced a dive to deflect the ball away in the 17th minute. Seven minutes later, Al Duhail’s Mohammed Muntari curled in a free-kick that was once again spiritedly saved by young Salah.
Al Gharafa opened the scoring with a miraculous run by Muad who ran solo for almost one third of the entire pitch. After receiving a cross from the centre, he charged ahead with the ball, with Sultan Al Brake giving him a hot chase.
Karim Boudiaf, Mohammed Emad and Muntari also jumped in to stop Muad who, after reaching inside the box, produced a left-footed drive to score to the left of the keeper. It was celebration time for Al Gharafa as Qatar national team coach Felix Sanchez watched from the stands.
