Al Kharaitiyat striker Yahia Kebe (left) in action during his team’s match against Umm Salal yesterday.

By Sports Reporter/Doha


Bottom sides Al Khor and Al Kharaitiyat celebrated huge wins yesterday as both sides picked up points in their Qatar Stars League (QSL) battles.
Al Khor, placed 12th, crushed former champions Al Gharafa 2-0 after goals by Julio Cesar (58) and Madson (84) at Al Ahli Stadium.
In the other game at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, 11th-placed Al Kharaitiyat saw off Umm Salal 3-0  through captain Yahia Kebe’s brace (77 and 94) and Hassan Abdel-Fatteh Mahmoud’s (29) opening goal.
With relegation fears on the minds, Al Khor and Al Kharaitiyat produced the goods when it mattered most and in the best manner possible - by scoring goals.
Al Khor played a great counter attacking game to defeat fancied Al Gharafa 2-0 at the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium on Sunday.
Al Gharafa were clearly the side with the majority possession but they couldn’t convert their chances while Al Khor were able to score off the few chances that they created.
The first half was a tense affair Al Gharafa enjoyed 62 per cent of the possession but no goals to show for that domination.
Al Khor, on the contrary, were content to sit back and absorb the pressure and look to attack on the counter.
Al Gharafa could have taken the lead in the first half but Congolese star Alain Dioko - still recovering from injury - had a shot palmed away by Khor goalkeeper Baba Kane.
Masoud Shojaei also saw his free-kick punched away in similar fashion a few minutes later.
The best chance of the first half fell to Dioko again. In the 34th minute he found himself inside the box and tried to beat the ‘keeper with his right foot but Kane was up to the task and denied Dioko.
The second half saw a similar script but then a defensive lapse saw Al Khor take the lead. In the 59th minute, Waleed Ahmad ran down the left flank and delivered a cross into the centre where Cesar was left unmarked.
The Brazilian had the time to fire in an acrobatic volley to give his team the lead.
Al Gharafa did create more chances but then in the 82nd minute, Aden Ali brought down substitute Lassina Diaby. Referee Khamis Mohammed pointed to the spot and Madson had no trouble in sending Al Gharafa ‘keeper Abdulaziz Abdulla the wrong way to double the lead for Al Khor.
Before the result on Sunday, Al Khor were level on points with Qatar SC who are in 13th place in the standings.
With Sunday’s win, they have managed to put a three-point gap between them and the relegation zone.
Al Khor coach Jean Fernandez will be a very happy man indeed. Al Gharafa, meanwhile, will have to find a way to convert their chances.
Meanwhile Kharaitiyat also clinched a valuable win over Umm Salal.  Kharaitiyat’s Jordanian striker Abdel-Fattah scored the first goal on a cross pass by Jarallah al-Marri from the right wing.
Kebe, in the 77th minute, calmly accept a pass from Anwar Diba to score his side’s second goal from close range. Minutes later, Kebe finished off Umm Salal with his injury-time strike.