Al Gharafa and Umm Salal shared the spoils as the first match of the second round of the QNB Stars League ended with a 0-0 draw. The result temporarily puts Umm Salal top of QNB Stars league standings with four points from two games, whilst Al Gharafa are still looking for their first win of the 2017/2018 campaign.
The game had a slow start with Al Gharafa having the majority of possession. The Cheetahs came close to scoring with a good free kick by Othman Al-Yahri, which required a save by Umm Salal’s number one Basel Zaidan.
Umm Salal came close breaking the deadlock in the first half, when the ball broke to Syraian attacker Mahmoud Al Mawas from a clearance, the Orange Fortress striker managed to drive with the ball down the wing and deliver a beautiful low cross to Ismail Mahmoud, however the Qatari attacker couldn’t connect with the cross and find the back of the net.
The Cheetahs young winger, Amr Abdulfattah enjoyed a good second half with a number of exciting runs and almost got his reward when he had a chance from close range and forced a brilliant save by the goalkeeper.
Al Gharafa could and perhaps should of grabbed the points at the death, when summer signing Luis Jimenez saw the ball drop to him in the 18 yard box, However the former Al Arabi man saw his effort go well wide, missing his chance to register Gharafa’s first win of the season.
Source: qsl.com.qa