Al Gharafa took on league newcomers Al Shamal at the Al Shamal stadium last Friday night at 17:30 in the evening.

Prior to the match Al Gharafa was sitting pretty in third place with 17 points whilst Al Shamal was rooted to the bottom of the table with just 3 points.

The visitors were the first to score when Gharafa’s Bresciano stole the ball form the unsuspecting defender, the ball landed at Lisandro’s feet and he unselfishly passed it back to Bresciano who smashed the ball into the goal on the 10^th minute of the game. 

The Cheetah’s good fortune continued in the first half, through a Mustafa Abdi goal (36’). The second goal came from an in-swinging free kick on the edge of the box. Abdi rose highest to header the ball but the keeper saved it, unfortunately for Shamal, the rebound fell straight back to Abdi who stuck it first time with his right to give Gharafa a two goal cushion.

That was it for the first half, with Gharafa looking completely in control of the game. 

The second half proved to be better for the home side as they finally found their rhythm and had a few spells of possession.

But yet again Al Gharafa was clinical in front on goal; Nene made a rampaging run through the middle before releasing the ball at the perfect moment for Lisandro. The Argentine then sent in a low, fast cross from the left for Moayad Fodhayli who slid in to tap home the third of the night (79’).

It was the 4^th goal of the season for the young Fodhayli; the young Qatari is certainly cementing his place in the team with yet another good performance.

Then the Shamal comeback began when perhaps the best goal of the night was scored by Hamad Farag on the 83^rd minute. The Al Shamal set piece fooled everybody who thought that a cross was imminent. Instead Dutchman Saïd Boutahar cut it back and Farag struck a beautiful curling effort past keeper Qasem Burhan from just outside the area in a central position.

South Korean Cho Yong-Hyung added a second but it was too late as he scored with only 1 minute of normal time remaining.

Again Al Shamal showed glimpses of their potential but a lack of confidence seems to be their biggest problem.

Al Gharafa stays in third place in the Qatar Stars League with 20 points from 10 matches.