Sanchez strikes as Arabi beat Duhail

Al Arabi rode on a Rodrigo Sanchez strike to edge Al Duhail 1-0 in Round 4 of the QSL Cup at the Al Khor Stadium on Friday. The hard-fought win saw Al Arabi move into second place in the group A with nine points, behind Al Duhail on goal difference. The result also ended Al Duhail’s winning streak.Both sides displayed astute defence throughout the match, but Rodrigo broke past The Red Knights in the 30th minute, striking from well outside the box, with his kick being deflected a bit further left taking the toe-end of a defender’s boot to beat goalkeeper Bautista Burke in the left corner.Al Duhail, however, were unlucky as they came close to scoring twice, but hit the woodwork. First, it was the Mohammed Ibrahim Abdelmajid who struck the crossbar with a powerful kick in the 12th minute, and in the second half (62nd minute), Mubarak Shanan Hamza’s fine kick found the bottom of left post.Ten minutes later, Al Duhail’s Luis Alberto’s attempt was saved in the left corner by Al Arabi goalkeeper Mohammed Saeed Ibrahim.Meanwhile, Al Rayyan and Qatar SC played out a 2-2 draw in another Group A match at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium. Roger Guedes (60th minute) and Rodrigo Tabata (85th minute) scored for Al Rayyan, while Qatar SC got their goals through Ben Malango (64th minute) and Ali Awad (73rd minute).With the result, The Lions now have seven points, while Qatar SC, who are yet to record a win, are on two.In the other match, Al Shahania and Al Ahli drew 1-1 in at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium. Lotfi Madjer opened the scoring for Al Shahania in the 23rd minute before Oumar Sekou got Al Ahli’s equalizer in the 50th minute to move The Brigadiers to four points, while Al Shahania’s points tally stood at two.