Doha: Al Arabi have Brazilian striker Junior Dutra to thank as he capped a brilliant individual performance to give his side a stunning 3-2 victory over defending champions Lekhwiya at the Qatar Stars League (QSL), yesterday at Al Sadd Stadium.
Al Arabi came flying out of the traps and grabbed a shock lead through Junior Dutra in the 1st minute.
The striker pounced on a uncharacteristic defensive error to slot home to give Arabi the lead. The Brazilian was rightly mobbed by his team-mates as he celebrated.
Lekhwiya took their time to get back into the tie and finally had their first chance of note on the 14th minute.
Stiker Mohammed Muntari got his feet all wrong, in what could have been a golden chance to equalise after a sustained period of Lekhwiya pressure.
Arabi looked to counter the Lekhwiya dominance of the ball on the break, and looked a constant threat from the constant running of Dutra and strike partner Paulinho.
The former Torino man was winning a fair share of the aerial battles against Chico Flores of Lekhwiya.
The Cops quickly shook themselves out of their poor start with Yusef Msakni grabbing the equaliser in a well worked passing move, with South Korean Nam Tae Hee supplying the crucial assist for the Tunisian international scoring his sixth goal of the season.
The QSL champions quickly found their form, and just moments later took the lead through Vladamir Weiss with a fine individual effort from just outside of the box on the 39th minute.
The Slovakian had just qualified for next summer’s European Championships, and the midfielder was mobbed by his team-mates as Lekhwiya completed the comeback. The first half ended with Lekhwiya 2-1 up.
Al Arabi looked to get back into the tie and started the second half strongly. A well delivered Ali Jasemi free kick was pushed out by Cops keeper Amine Lecomte. Arabi quickly got struck back an equaliser in the 60th minute through Junior Dutra.
The Brazilian finished from a tight angle much to the joy of the travelling Arabi fans.
Zola’s side grew in confidence and took a deserved 3-2 lead in the 65th minute with Dutra completing his hat-trick.
The powerful run and well placed finish was greeted by rapturous support by the vocal Arabi fans. However the tie took a turn for the worse in the 75th minute when Lekhwiya captain Karim Boudiaf was rightly shown a straight red card for a cynical elbow on Dutra.
The energetic Dutra was taken off to a standing ovation from the Arabi fans, the Brazilian had put in a real shift for the dream team.
Arabi continued to dominate the ten men of Lekhwiya, and had a host of chances to extend their lead. The pick of which came from Ali Jasemi in the 85th minute, the well worked move was comfortably taken by Amine Lecomte.
Perhaps the biggest concern for Djamel Belmadi was that striker Mohammed Muntari was stretchered off late in the tie. The Qatari international looked in considerable pain, and could be out for a few weeks.
Earlier, Al Sadd survived a late scare to register their fourth win of the season defeating Qatar Sports Club 2-1 in an end to end encounter at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
The match sprang into action as Sadd took the lead as early as the 2nd minute through Brazilian striker Luiz Muriqui, who proved to have an eventful first half for the wolves.
Qatar Sports Club held on till the end of the first half, with Al Sadd leading 1-0.
Al Sadd started the second half with a real determination to double their advantage. Within minutes Hassan Haydoos hit the post from a tight angle on the 46th minute. The pressure was mounting on Qatar Sports Club, with Hamza Sanhaji drawing a good save with a headed effort on the 48th minute, the resulting corner was skewed wide from Mohammed Kasola.
Al Sadd eventually broke the Kings resistance on the 53rd minute, Mohammed Kasola was on hand for the second goal heading from a well delivered from Nadir Belhadj freekick. With the tie essentially over Sadd comfortably retained possession of the ball, however the Kings did have a chance to get back into the tie.
On the 65th minute Moucine Iajour blazed over from close range, the Moroccan really should have hit the target for his side.
Iajour finally grabbed a well-deserved goal on the 78th minute to give his side a lifeline in the tie.
The well placed effort beating Sadd keeper Muhannad Hussein.
Qatar Sports Club grew in confidence with their goal, and immediately placed Sadd under pressure. Moucine Iajour’s pace unsettling the normally solid Sadd defence. Despite a late flourish from Qatar Sport Club, Sadd held on for all three points. The result leaves the Kings without a win in any of their first five matches of the season. In other match, El Jaish scored three goals in 14 minutes to wrap up a commanding 4-1 victory over Al Gharafa. That goal spree included a two goals in two minutes from Morrocan striker Abderazzaq Hamedallah.
Al Gharafa had won all their three matches going into the tie and they took the lead when Yasin Chikhaoui converted from the penalty spot on the 31st minute.
El Jaish had looked threatening but they weren’t able to convert their chances.
However, they got back into the tier spectacular fashion through Romarinho on the stroke of half-time.
With fifteen minutes left on the clock, El Jaish found their form with three goals to put the tie beyond doubt.
The first came in the 73rd minute through the good work of Mohamed Methani. Two minutes later Hamedallah was back amongst the goals converting from the penalty to increase his team’s advantage.
The final goal scored in the 87th minute was a team effort.
THE PENINSULA
