Al Gharafa and Al Sadd shared six goals in a scintillating 3-3 draw yesterday while Al Rayyan notched up their first win under new coach Michael Laudrup in the Qatar Stars League.
Al Gharafa raced to a two goal lead  before Al Sadd scored three in a row to go up 3-2. Pedro Caxina’s side, however, left it late to find the equaliser thanks to Ghanaian central defender Rashid Sumaila.
In a thrilling match, it didn’t take long Al Gharafa to score the first goal as Hungarian international Kriszti?n Németh found the net in the sixth minute. The ball came in as a cross from the left but Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Dosari made a hash of the save, allowing Németh to take advantage and drive it home.
In the 25th minute, Othman al-Yahri doubled the Cheetahs’ advantage. The Qatari midfielder made a diagonal run beating the Al Sadd offside trap and found himself on the end of an incisive pass with all the Al Sadd defenders behind him. The 23-year-old ran with the ball into the box, skipped past the keeper and guided the ball home to make it 2-0.
Just a minute later Al Sadd got a goal of their own to mount their spectacular comeback.
Summer signing Jugurtha Hamroun reduced the lead, heading the ball into the goal after it had rebounded off the cross bar following a thundering Ali Asad shot.
Al Sadd’s captain fantastic Xavi also found the net in this game as he levelled the score line with his well taken goal. Baghdad Bounedjah picked out the Spanish superstar’s run behind the far post and made a clever pass. Xavi then slotted it into the net from a tight angle to make it two all in the 35th minute.
Towards the end of the first half, Abdelkarim Hassan scored a spectacular goal to give the Wolves the lead. The young Qatari international nutmeged Al Gharafa’s Mustafa Abdulla before sending a powerful shot into the far corner to give Al Sadd the lead going into half time.
Credit goes to Al Gharafa as they pushed hard for an equaliser and the Cheetahs found their mark with three minutes left to play. Ghanian defender Rashid Sumaila powerfully headed in from an incoming corner to give Pedro Caxinia’s men a deserved share of the spoils.
Meanwhile, Al Rayyan recorded only their second victory this season, bouncing back from an early deficit to beat Al Kharaitiyat 3-1.
Defending champs Al Rayyan have made a lacklustre start to the tournament, having drawn three of their five games, but yesterday’s win helped them leapfrog Al Shahania into fourth place. Lekhwiya top the table on goal difference, while El Jaish are second and Al Sadd third.