Al Duhail First Football Team achieved an important victory over hosts Al Gharafa, 2-0, in a match held at Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Al Gharafa Club, as part of the Round 19 of the Ooredoo Stars League.
Al Duhail, led by the Frenchman Christophe Galtier, started the match with the following starting lineup:
(1) Salah Zakaria (goalkeeper), (2) Youssef Ayman, (3) Lucas Verissimo, (8) Paulo Edmilson, (11) Al Moez Ali, (12) Karim Boudiaf, (14) Michael Olunga, (19) Benjamin Bourigeaud, (22) Ibrahim Bamba, (24) Humam Al Amin, (93) Hakim Ziyech.
While the following players sat on the bench at the start of the match:
(30) Bautista Burque (Goalkeeper), (38) Jassim Boubaker (Goalkeeper), (5) Bassam Al Rawi, (7) Ismail Mohamed, (10) Luis Alberto, (20) Abdullah Al Ahrak, (23) Ahmed Al Sayed, (25) Mubarak Shanan, (29) Rashed Al Abdullah, (77) Ghanem Al Menhali.
The 16th minute witnessed Al Duhail first goal, with a superb shot from outside Al-Gharafa penalty area by team captain Al Moez Ali, which landed in the far bottom right corner of the Al Gharafa nets.
The 36th minute saw the team striker Michael Olunga almost add the team second goal, receiving Edmilson’s cross from the right side and heading it in that Al Gharafa goalkeeper successfully blocked. Olunga then shot again, but his shot went wide and out of play.
In the 41st minute, Olunga almost added a second goal, but Al Gharafa goalkeeper once again excelled in keeping Al Duhail ahead by only one goal.
In the 65th minute, Michael Olunga missed a clear goal opportunity after receiving a magical pass from Hakim Ziyech, finding himself directly in front of Al Gharafa goal. He fired a powerful shot wide of the goal, thus missing the chance to extend Al Duhail lead.
In the 77th minute, Olunga again posed a threat to Al Gharafa goal, but Al Gharafa goalkeeper continued to defend his team goal, deflecting the threat away from his goal before the ball reached his teammate Luis Alberto, who shot again, but the ball hit Al Gharafa defense and went out for a corner kick.
In the 87th minute, Ismail Mohamed scored Al Duhail second goal, completely ending Al Gharafa hopes of a comeback.
The four minutes of added time by referee Abdulhadi Al Ruwaili did not witness new results, and the referee blew his whistle, announcing Al Duhail 2-0 victory and three new points.
The victory maintains Al Duhail lead at the top of the league table, raising their tally to 44 points, one ahead of Al Sadd, at the end of Round 19.
Goal Summary:
- 16th minute (Al Moez Ali)
- 87th minute (Ismail Mohamed)
Substitution Summary:
- 73rd minute (Luis Alberto on – Hakim Ziyech off)
- 79th minute (Ismail Mohamed on – Michael Olunga off)
- 90th minute (Ahmed Al Sayed on – Karim Boudiaf off)
