Tribune News Network
Doha
Oumar Sekou and Erik Exposito each scored a brace as Al Ahli thrashed a 10-man Al Wakrah 6-3 in a high-scoring Ooredoo Stars League clash at the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday, moving level on points with leaders Al Duhail.
The win lifted Al Ahli to second place with 25 points, trailing the Red Knights on goal difference. Al Duhail can restore their three-point lead when they face Qatar SC on Sunday.
Earlier, Al Gharafa climbed to third place, displacing Al Sadd after securing a 3-1 victory over Al Khor.
Al Sadd will host Al Shamal on Sunday at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
For Al Ahli, the goals came thick and fast after Ayoub Assal put Al Wakrah ahead in the 11th minute. Yansane equalized with a penalty in the 22nd minute and Julian Draxler put Al Ahli in the lead with a goal in the 36th minute.
Al Wakrah suffered a setback when Alexander Scholz was shown a red card in stoppage time of the first half. However, the Blue Wave responded in the second half with Ricardo Gomes equalizing two minutes after the restart.
Al Ahli regained the lead in the 55th minute through Robin Tihi, before Exposito (68th minute) and Yansane (71st minute) extended the advantage. Assal scored his second goal for Al Wakrah in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but Exposito sealed the emphatic win for Al Ahli three minutes later.
Al Wakrah slipped to seventh place in the standings with 14 points.
At the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium, Yacine Brahimi converted a penalty to put Al Gharafa ahead and Joselu doubled the lead with a fine strike to give them a 2-0 halftime advantage.
Brahimi (33rd minute), Joselu (42nd minute) and Ahmed Al Ganehi (90+3 minute) were on the scoresheet for Al Gharafa, while Sofiane Hanni pulled one back for Al Khor in the 58th minute.
The match saw Al Khor’s Ruben Semedo commit a foul on Florinel Coman inside the penalty area, leading to a penalty, which Brahimi converted to open the scoring. Joselu then doubled the lead with a spectacular strike, following a precise through pass from Rodrigo, with the
ball hitting the crossbar before going in.
Al Khor briefly found their rhythm as Hanni scored with a fine strike from outside the box, set up by Ayman Hussein. However, Al Khor’s efforts were ultimately thwarted by a solid Al Gharafa defence.
In injury time, Al Gharafa added a third as Al Ganehi finished off a cross from Mohammed Muntari to find the bottom corner and round off the win.
Al Khor remain at the bottom of the table in 12th place with just 7 points.