Al Arabi excelled in the second half to claim a 2-0 victory over Al Markhiya in the QNB Stars League and close gap on leaders Al Duhail yesterday.
After a goalless first half at Grand Hamad Stadium, Rami Suhail broke the deadlock in the 67th minute before Al Arabi star Yousef Msakni netted a 90th-minute penalty to seal victory for Younes Ali’s side.
The win took Al Arabi’s points tally to 31 from 14 matches, one point shy of Al Duhail, who have a game in hand. Duhail are currently busy with AFC Champions League, where they will play Saudi’s Al Shabab in the quarter-finals tomorrow. Markhiya stood on 12 points from as many matches.
Markhiya were impressive and made some good moves but they lacked execution with The Dream Team availing their second half chances well. Suhail opened the scoring with a fine strike off a tight angle after a ball from Abdulla Hassan, before Al Markhiya goalkeeper Loukay Sherif Ashour brought down Omar al-Somah to concede a penalty that Msakni converted comfortably.
At Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, Qatar SC and Al Sailiya played out a 1-1 draw after an exciting battle. Qatar SC’s Nasir Peer scored in the 45+5 minute and Sergio Carlos Strandberg equalised from a penalty kick in the 78th minute for Al Sailiya.
The match witnessed the debut of Qatar SC’s new recruit from Sweden Nabil Bahoui. Following the draw, Qatar SC advanced to third place with 23 points, while Al Sailiya moved on to nine points.
Qatar SC’s Jassim al-Jalabi almost gave his team the lead in the 21st minute, but his header was brilliantly saved by Al Sailiya goalkeeper Claude Amin for a corner kick.
Qatar SC intensified pressure until Nasir succeeded in scoring at the stroke of half-time whistle after Bashar Resan’s shot from outside the penalty area which bounced off the goalkeeper. Al-Jalabi pounced on it, but Nasir succeeded in finding the target.
In the second half, Al Sailiya were the better side despite the progress of Qatar SC and missed some opportunities through substitute Abdulqadir Ilyas and Sergio Carlos.
In the 67th minute, the referee awarded a penalty kick in favour of Qatar SC, but it was cancelled after referring to the VAR.
Sailiya threatened the Qatar SC goal and Ilyas got a penalty kick after the intervention of Javi Martinez from behind and Sergio Carlos translated it into a goal from the spot. Attempts continued to be made by both sides, but the stalemate remained.
Later at the same venue, Umm Salal held Al Wakrah to a goalless draw to earn a point. The match was dominated by Al Wakrah but the Blue Waves were not impressive in the final third as only two of their 16 attempts in the match were on target.
Al Wakrah, who remained third in the standings before the FIFA World Cup break, slipped to seventh with 19 points while bottom-placed Umm Salal, who are levelled with Al Sailiya on 9 points, raised hopes of avoiding relegation after the draw.