Striker Bader Al Motawa found the back of the net in the 89th minute to guide his team to a 1-0 win over the Doha club in the away match played in warm conditions.

The Kuwaiti club has now 10 points from four matches whereas Al Gharrafa is struggling with just two from same number of matches. Paktakhor of Uzbekistan has 7 points from four matches to secure the second spot in the group.

The fourth team in Group D, Arbil of Iraq also has 2 points from four matches. Yesterday, Pakhatkor beat Arbil 5-1.

Al Motawa grabbed a lose ball from the edge of the box and smartly dribbled past two defenders before forcing Al Gharrafa goalkeeper Abdulaziz Abdulla to step away from the goal line.

After beating the two Al Gharrafa defenders, Al Motawa tipped the ball to the right before calmly aiming for the top of the net with goalkeeper Abdulla embarrassingly out of position.

Earlier, both teams struggled for ball possession in trying playing conditions at the Al Gharrafa Stadium. Clemerson, Al Gharrafa’s high-scoring striker, let one fly from long range in the eight minute, but Al Qadsiya goalkeeper smartly punched the swerving ball away for a corner.

In the 18th minute, Al Gharrafa defender Saghayer Al Amari fired a bullet from close range, but his shot curled away inches from the goal post.

Nine minutes later, Al Gharrafa’s young striker Fahid Al Shammari arrived inside the box for a snap-header, but unfortunately lost balance on the jump and fell awkwardly with the ball spinning away safely. Barely two minutes, Clemerson fired another long range shot with his left foot, but his shot curled away to the left of Al Qadsiya ’keeper in what was a perilously close affair for the visitors.

In the 38th minute, Al Qadsiya’s Khalaf Al Mutairi tore into Al Gharrafa box, but despite being chased by just one Doha defender, the Kuwaiti youngster lost possession of the ball with only Al Gharrafa goalkeeper to beat from close range.

With warm weather making things difficult for both teams, the Al Gharrafa and Al Qadsiya players looked lethargic and even clumsy with their passing, often guilty of not putting an effort to chase a long ball. Probably worn down after a lengthy and tiring season, players of Al Gharrafa and Al Qadsiya clearly lacked coordination, spraying at least half a dozen passes that were half-heartedly chased by their strikers in the first half.

With their inspiring striker Younus Mahmoud missing from the starting line-up, Al Gharrafa midfielders failed to feed Clemerson with any degree of authority right throughout the first half, which produced dreary football.

In the 65th minute, Clermerson cleverly changed the trajectory of the ball with a left-footed drive from the edge of the Al Qadsiya box, but his ball narrowly missed the goal post. In the 72nd minute, Al Gharrafa’s Al Shammari took a long range ball on the volley near the edge of the box, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Nawaf.