Al Gharafa edge Al Sailiya 2-1 in exciting contest

Tribune News NetworkDohaAl Gharafa staved off a challenging Al Sailiya 2-1 for a hard fought opening win in the QNB Stars League clash at the Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday.The Cheetahs led 1-0 at half time. Muyad Hassan (31st minute) and Amro Seraj (47th minute) scored for the winners while Mohanad Ali (Mimi) pulled one back for Al Sailiya in the 67th minute.It was a fast-paced contest between the two teams, played frantically towards the end. While Qatari goalkeeper Qasem Burhan stood out with his performance for Al Gharafa, Iraqi forward Mohanad Ali excelled for Al Sailiya.Substituted in the 61st minute in place of Saied Eisa, Mimi was in the thick of the action for over 35 minutes of the match. It was his brilliant header off a corner kick that got Al Sailiya their only goal of the match but instilled confidence towards getting an equalizer. The team tried hard but was done in by some brilliant goalkeeping by Burhan.Before Mohanad entered the field, it was Al Gharafa dominating mostly. Their first goal was a superb combination between Amro Seraj, Andri Syahputra and Muyad Hassan, who made a clean left-footed finish into the far corner of the net.Early in the second half, Al Gharafa’s lead was consolidated by Seraj whose left-foot kick from top of the box was deflected by Al Sailiya’s Mostafa Mohamed and also beat goalkeeper Lecoumet Kloud with the ball going into the right corner.The introduction of Mimi saw Al Sailiya make more attacking moves. Soon after their first goal, Mimi and Greek winger Giannis Fetfatzidis combined effectively but a header from Mimi off Giannis’ cross was well held by goalkeeper Burhan.In the 90th minute, Al Gharafa survived another scare when Swede Carlos Strandberg’s shot was stopped by Burhan who went down in the process.The added time of the match also saw Mohanad Ali shouldering a cross into the goal but the goalkeeper stayed alert to deny Al Sailiya any hopes of fetching an equaliser.Al Sailiya coach Sami Trabelsi rued his team’s missed chances. "The result does not reflect the way we played and our level against Al Gharafa,” he said after the match."We made mistakes that was the reason for us to be at the receiving end. We conceded the two goals very easily. In the second half, we played much better. "We will learn from our mistakes,” he added.Al Gharafa will play Al Wakrah in their second round match while Al Sailiya meet Al Shamal next week, both matches on August 10 (Wednesday).