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Saudi Al-Ahli, the AFC Champions League Elite titleholder, secured its second victory in the league stage after defeating its guest, Qatar's Al-Gharafa, 2-1 on Monday at the "Al-Inmaa" stadium in Jeddah, as part of the third round of competition.
Al-Ahli raised its tally to 7 points, moving up to second place temporarily in the Western continent club standings, two points behind the leaders, UAE's Al-Ain, while Al-Gharafa remained without points, dropping to thirteenth place.
Al-Ahli started the match strongly and succeeded in opening the scoring early, as Englishman Ivan Toney found the net in the fifth minute with a right-footed shot from the center of the penalty area, following a decisive pass from Armenian Eduard Spertsyan, giving the hosts an early advantage.
In the second half, Al-Gharafa managed to get back into the game after Romanian Florinel Coman equalized in the 53rd minute with a shot from inside the penalty area, benefiting from a pass by Saifeldeen Fadlalla, bringing the match back to square one.
The Qatari team received a heavy blow in the 77th minute when the referee showed a red card to Senegalese Seydou Sano after he received a second yellow card within seven minutes, leaving Al-Gharafa to finish the match with ten players.
Al-Ahli took advantage of the numerical disadvantage of its opponent and intensified its offensive pressure in search of the winning goal, until Brazilian Matheus Gonçalves succeeded in scoring the second goal in the 86th minute with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, granting his team a valuable victory and three new points in its continental tournament campaign.
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