Al Jazira fail to find first win

Their quest for pride and their first win of the AFC Champions League this season took a battering in Doha last night after a Clemerson hat-trick gave Al Gharafa a 4-2 win.

Al Jazira's quest for pride and their first win of the AFC Champions League this season took a battering in Doha last night after a Clemerson hat-trick gave Al Gharafa a 4-2 win. Clemerson struck twice to give the hosts a 2-0 lead before the break and the Brazilian added his third seconds after the restart. Otman el Assas made it 4-0 in the 72nd minute before Rafael Sobis and Abdulla Mousa gave some respectability to the scoreline.

The win confirms the Qatar league champions spot in the last 16 of the tournament from Group A, alongside Esteghlal. The Iranian club had booked their ticket with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli earlier in the evening. Jazira, already out of the reckoning for a place in the second round after just one point from their first four games, were playing for pride and did present a few anxious moments for the hosts, but Gharafa's strikers eventually proved to be too good for the visitors.

Clemerson rose over the Jazira defenders to nod in a Juninho free-kick in the 12th minute and he doubled the tally with a sharp finish from inside the box. Between those two goals, Mousa had come close to equalising for the visitors in the 32nd minute with a powerful left-foot shot that floated just over the crossbar. Clemerson's third goal of the night, however, took the fight out of the visitors. He took advantage of an error by goalkeeper Ali Khaseif to complete his hat-trick. El Assas also benefited from a goalkeeping slip and fired home a rebound from Khaseif.

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