Tribune News Network
Doha
Al Ahli rallied to hold Al Wakrah to an exciting 2-2 draw in their respective Week 1 match of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Al Janoub Stadium on Sunday.
In other match of the day between Al Shahania and Al Arabi ended in a goalless draw at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
While Angolan star Gelson Dala (20th minute) and Ayoub Assal (77th minute) got the goals for Al Wakrah, Spanish professional Erik Exposito (76th minute) and Sekou Oumar (86th minute) scored for Al Ahli.
The Blue Wave that held sway in the opening half was consistently challenged by The Brigadiers whose efforts paid off and their two superbly scored late goals saw the teams take home a point each.
Al Wakrah launched themselves into the game early as in the 7th minute Ricardo Gomes drilled in a long range shot but it was saved by a diving Al Ahli goalkeeper Marwan Sherif near the right post.
It wasn’t long before Al Wakrah dented the rival defence as Assal picked on a long ball in a counter-attack and waited on just outside the box to pass the ball to incoming Dala to slot it in into the right corner.
Al Ahli had a chance in the 31st minute to nullify the deficit but German Julian Draxler failed to beat the goalkeeper with ball going past the right post.
Six minutes later, a header following an Al Ahli corner kick shook the right post but the ball fell to safety.
In added time of the first half, an Assal attempt from well outside the box also went over as Al Wakrah went into the break, up 1-0.
Soon after resumption, (54th minute) Draxler broke through the Al Wakrah defence and got a return pass as well but alert goalkeeper Mohamed Ahmed staved off a powerful kick.
In the 70th minute, a free kick from Al Ahli’s Driss Fettouhi saw Al Wakrah’s Lucas Mendes make a defensive header but the ball hit the left post.
Al Ahli eventually succeeded in equalizing six minutes later as Exposito well-judged a lob cross from the left by Draxler to make a header with the ball going in on the first bounce.
But hardly even before the celebration could settle down, Al Wakrah hit back with a telling counter-attack as Dala picked on a long goal-kick and moved the ball to Assal on his left to dash in and beat the goalkeeper to his left (2-1).
However, Al Wakrah too could not hold on to their lead as Al Ahli’s efforts were rewarded once again. It was also a superbly worked goal as substitute Abdelrahman Moustafa broke from the right, got past two defenders to provide the assist to Sekou Oumar who also went through two defenders before kicking the ball through the legs of a third into the left corner of the net (2-2).
It was a hard earned and well deserved draw for Al Ahli against their fancied rivals.