Al Arabi came from a goal down to secure a vital 4-2 win over Al Ahli in the Qatar Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium yesterday. In other matches, Al Rayyan beat a 10-man Al Wakrah 4-0, while goalkeeper Shehab Mamdouh Ellethy made a fine stoppage-time penalty save as Al Shahania registered a thrilling 3-2 win over Umm Salal.
Arabi moved from 11th to eighth in the table with a crucial win over Ahli. Rodri Sanchez netted a brace (33rd and 45th minutes), while Hassan Alaaeddin (29th minute) and Ahmed Alaaeddin (90+3 minute penalty) added one each. Ahli – who are in fourth place – got both of their goals from the penalty spot through Julian Draxler (14th minute) and Oumar Sekou (79th minute) as their points tally remained on 28 points.
The exciting match was evenly balanced until the 11th minute when Ahmed Fathy conceded a foul against Draxler in the penalty area, which the former German international wasted no time in converting from the spot.
The lead was almost doubled two minutes later by Hamad Mansour, if not for the sharp reflexes of Al Arabi goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada, who did well to save an angled shot from the Al Ahli midfielder. With Al Ahli seemingly gaining the upper hand, Al Arabi unexpectedly sprung a surprise in the 29th minute, with Hassan Alaaeddin finishing off a square pass from Youssef Msakni, following a brilliant build from midfield, as parity was restored.
The equaliser appeared to be the turning point for Al Arabi as they took the lead in the 29th minute, this time through Sanchez, who took advantage of the rebound from a powerful shot by Alaaeddin to hit the net with a left-footer.
Sanchez got his brace and Al Arabi’s third just on the dot of regulation time in the first half to ensure a comfortable advantage for the hosts going into halftime. Al Arabi, who have had mixed fortunes this season, continued to press hard on resumption of the concluding half, seemingly determined to ensure the victory was doubtlessly theirs this time around.
But with time slowly winding down, Al Ahli began to make some repeated, dangerous incursions into their opponents’ final third, but try as much as they did, Al Arabi ensured they made nothing out of the moves. Al Ahli got an opportunity they had been waiting for to cut the deficit in the 76th minute when Al Arabi’s Luiz Ceara conceded a penalty for a dangerous play on Erik Exposito. The decision that had to be ratified after a lengthy VAR check was successfully converted by substitute Sekou in the 80th minute.
Any hope of Al Ahli’s comeback, however, was ultimately extinguished in three minutes of added time after Ahmed Alaaeldin converted from the spot, following a foul on Yazan al-Naimat three minutes earlier, to ensure the match ended 4-2 in favour of Al Arabi.
At the Stadium 974, Al Wakrah suffered a big setback in the very first minute of play when Suhaib Gannan was sent off for a foul. Down to 10 men, Al Wakrah were left to battling an attacking Al Rayyan and could never recover.
Al Rayyan soon reaped the rewards with their goals coming from Roger Guedes (29th and 81st minutes), Tamim Mansour (51st minute), and Alexander Scholz (67th minute own goal). The win fetched Al Rayyan the three valuable points and took their tally to 21 points, while Al Wakrah stayed on 17 points.
At the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, goalkeeper Ellethy was the hero for Shahania with a stoppage-time penalty save. Umm Salal won a penalty after a VAR following a goalmouth melee in 90+3 minute, but Ellethy judged Oussama Tannane’s kick perfectly diving to his right to secure a fourth successive win for his team in the league championship. Their seventh win of the championship saw Al Shahania’s points tally swell to 23 points, while Umm Salal with a 10th defeat are in 11th place with 14 points.