Ooredoo Stars League: Al Gharafa Draw with Al Shamal in Week 4

Doha: Al Gharafa and Al Shamal played out a 1-1 draw in Week 4 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Al Bayt Stadium on Friday. Both teams were gifted an own goal each, with Al Shamal taking the lead through Al Gharafa's Saifeldeen Fadlalla in the 11th minute before Al Shamal's Mohammed Al Naimi returned the favour in the 36th minute to move Al Gharafa to five points in the standings, while Al Shamal advanced to four points. Al Gharafa almost got off to a dream start, with Rodrigo Moreno disappointingly missing opening the scoring in the first minute of the match after his shot from a very advantageous position went just inches wide. With Al Gharafa doing much of the pressing in the early minutes of first half, Al Shamal were forced to be on the defensive with occasional fast counterattacks and one of such fast breaks almost yielded the desired result for them in the ninth minute, with Younes Belhanda's low-driven right-footed shot painfully hitting the upright on its way out. Al Shamal got the first goal of the match against the run of play in the 11th minute after Al Gharafa's Fadlalla bizarrely turned the ball into his own net despite not being under any pressure while attempting to make a clearance. The goal expectedly jolted Al Gharafa as they went in search of an equalizer almost immediately. But tried as much as they did, Al Shamal's defence stood solid, staving off all attempts from the men in yellow jerseys. Machado missed one of the best chances of the night in the 33rd minute after being fed with the ball by Joselu, placing him in a one-on-one position with goalkeeper Babacar Seck, but the Spaniard somehow played into the hands of Senegalese shot stopper. Three minutes later, it was the turn of Al Gharafa to be gifted an own goal as Al Naimi, in an attempt to make a back pass, somehow chested the ball beyond the reach of goalkeeper Seck to make the game even between the two sides. Despite both teams' several attempts at taking the outright lead going into the half-time break, none of them succeeded, with the scores remaining even between them. The second half was more balanced between the two sides as chances were evenly created and possession almost at equal percentage. Al Gharafa survived Al Shamal's attempt at taking the lead in the 72nd minute, with the upright twice coming to their rescue, with Mohammed Musa first hitting the upright with his header before the rebound fell into the path of substitute Mohammed Al Manai, who also headed against the post. With no other major action from thereon, the highly-entertaining match ended with the spoils evenly shared between them. Source: Qatar News Agency