DOHA: Defending champions Al Sadd were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Wakra, a welcome result after last week’s 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Al Shamal, in the third round of the fledgeling Qatar League on Friday.

Al Wakra were fired into the lead on 14 minutes by Ali Qassim and it looked like another upset was on the cards for their Qatari rivals when Mohamed Ghulam came up with the face-saving equaliser in injury time. Al Sadd are now seventh in the 10-team table with four points.

Al Gharafa continue to be the early leaders, pocketing yet another three points for a perfect record, after defeating Al Arabi 2-0. Iraq’s AFC Asian Cup winning captain Younis Mahmoud hit the first goal on the stroke of halftime and this was added to by Abdelhaq Ait Aarif on 70 minutes. This was the team’s third straight win.

Al Rayyan had to work hard for a 1-1 draw against Al Khor after Tiago provided the equaliser five minutes before the end after Rodrigo had fired Al Khor into the lead in the 79th minute.

In other games, Qatar Sports Club thrashed Al Sailiya 4-2 and Umm Salal beat Al Shamal 1-0.

STANDINGS: 1. Al Gharafa 9, 2. Al Rayyan 7, 3. Al Khor 4, 4. Qatar Sports Club 4, 5. Umm Salal 4