Doha: Al Wakrah secured a vital 3-0 win against Al Gharafa in Round 2 of the 2024-2025 season QSL Cup (Group B) at the Al Khor Stadium on Friday.
Goals from Jassim Al Zarra (fifth minute), Mohammed Khan (47th minute) and Nasser Al Yazidi (63rd minute) gave The Blue Wave the maximum points and maintained their lead in Group B standings with six points from two matches, while Al Gharafa, who were having their first match of the tournament, are yet to register a goal or point.
Al Wakrah were clearly the better side from the blast of the opening whistle and it was therefore not surprising when they recorded an early goal, with Al Zarra nodding into an empty net in the fifth minute from a Ricardo Gomes cross.
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Al Gharafa could have gotten their equalizer three minutes later had Yousef Saaed Amer done a better job with the ball after finding himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater, but the young forward shot wide, missing an obvious sitter.
Al Wakrah continued to dominate the game, with Al Gharafa condemned to defending for the greater part of first half and Gomes had the opportunity to add his name to the scorers’ sheet in the 40th minute after some fanciful moves by the Cape Verdean international in the opponents’ 18-yard box ended with a fiery low-driven shot that painfully struck the upright.
Al Wakrah began the second half from where they stopped, with Khan finding the back of the net two minutes into the start of the half from the rebound of a corner kick.
When it rains, it definitely pours, and Al Wakrah confirmed their unassailable lead in the 63rd minute with Al Yazidi getting their third goal of the night with a clinical finish, rounding up goalkeeper Hassan before unleashing a fearsome left-footed shot, after taking advantage of substitute Yousef Houssam Hassan’s defensive error.
The third goal seemed to take the wind off Al Gharafa’s sail and they were only able to manage to keep Al Wakrah from adding to their tally till the end of the almost one-sided encounter.
