DOHA: Al Ahli held Al Wakrah to a pulsating 2-2 draw to secure a point at the Ooredoo Stars League (OSL) at Al Janoub Stadium yesterday. Sekou Oumar (86th minute) scored the equaliser for Al Ahli after Al Wakrah led following goals by Gelson Dala (20th minute) and Ayoub Assal (77th minute). Spanish professional Erik Exposito (76th minute) was the other scorer for the Brigadiers.
The Blue Wave that held sway in the opening half was consistently challenged by Al Ahli whose efforts paid off and their two superbly scored late goals saw the teams take home a point each. Al Wakrah launched themselves into the game early as in the 7th minute Ricardo Gomes drilled in a long range shot but it was saved by a diving Al Ahli goalkeeper Marwan Sherif near the right post. It wasn’t long before Al Wakrah dented the rival defence as Assal picked on a long ball in a counter-attack and waited on just outside the box to pass the ball to incoming Dala to slot it in into the right corner.
Al Ahli had a chance in the 31st minute to nullify the deficit but German Julian Draxler failed to beat the goalkeeper with ball going past the right post. Six minutes later, a header following an Al Ahli corner kick shook the right post but the ball fell to safety. In added time of the first half, an Assal attempt from well outside the box also went over as Al Wakrah went into the break, up 1-0.
Soon after resumption, (54th minute) Draxler broke through the Al Wakrah defence and got a return pass as well but .