Al Gharafa bagged their first points of the season with a 2-1 victory over Al Sailiya in Week 2 of the QNB Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday.

Wesley Schneider opened the scoring for Al Gharafa in the 25th minute and Vladimir Weiss doubled the lead in the 49th.

Rachid Tiberkanine scored an 80th-minute consolation goal for Al Sailiya.

In a very open encounter, it was Al Gharafa who caused an early scare when Yousuf Muftah’s 30-yard strike dipped under the bar, forcing a fine save from opposition goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater.

From then on, Al Sailiya sparked into life, with Nadir Belhadj forcing a spectacular save and a lot of pressure as their confidence grew. A lapse in concentration nearly ruined this as Weiss countered, turned inside his man and struck a beautiful shot which was saved yet again.

Moments later, Al Gharafa had a penalty following a scrap at a set piece. Schneider stepped in and slotted his kick into the bottom right corner.

The second half started with Al Gharafa immediately in the ascendency and they were rewarded as Weiss chased down another through ball, ran in on goal and deceived the keeper with a low shot into the far side of the goal. 

While Al Gharafa were able to step off the pace, it did create an opportunity for Al Sailiya to get back into the game. They were unlucky on several occasions including shots by both Abdulqadir Adam and Tiberkanine which hit the bar and post respectively.

Tiberkanine did get his goal late on when a quickly-taken free-kick caught the Al Gharafa defence off guard and his shot ricocheted into the net.