Al Gharafa's Jonathan Kodjia (left) in action yesterday.
DOHA: Al Gharafa collected valuable three points as they rallied from a goal down to edge Al Wakrah 2-1 in an absorbing QNB Stars League (QSL) clash at their home turf yesterday.
Victory in their Round 17 clash took Al Gharafa’s points tally to 28 points as they consolidated their fourth spot in the standings.
But, Al Gharafa were trailing by a goal for 56 minutes after Al Wakrah scored an early goal, with Iliyas Hassani striking in the fourth minute.
Al Gharafa continued to launch attacks without success until Sofiane Hanni converted a 60-minute penalty to level the score.
With the goal, Al Gharafa regained confidence and found the winning goal through star striker Jonathan Kodjia, who headed home the winner from a cross in 70th minute. Al Wakrah remained on 7th spot with 19 points after the loss.
Earlier, Umm Salal and Al Shahania played out a 2-2 draw in their Week 17 clash also played at the Al Gharafa Stadium.
January signing Raul Becerra scored Umm Salal’s goals in the second and 52nd minutes.
Kesse Amanguoa (16th minute) and Ramin Rezaein (78th minute) scored for Al Shahania.
Umm Salal and Al Shahania now have 14 and 10 points respectively, and still stare at relegation as the bottom teams. They both need to pull up their socks if they are to move away from the danger zone.
Becerra gave Umm Salal an early advantage until Amanguoa helped Al Shahania draw parity as the latter had slightly more of the ball till the end of first half.
The Orange Fortress went ahead for a second time seven minutes into the second half, again through Becerra, and Rezaein’s goal enabled Al Shahania to earn a crucial point.
Both teams pressed hard in pursuit of a winning goal, but the scoreline remained the same.
