Al Arabi players challenge an Al Qadsia player during the match.
Doha: Al Arabi endured a 3-0 defeat against Kuwait’s Al Qadsia in their away fixture of the Gulf Club Champions League’s (GCCL) Group B fifth round at the Mohammed Al Hamad Stadium yesterday.
The home side secured victory through goals from Mehdi Berrahma (28’), Jasem Al Mutar (39’), and a stoppage-time penalty converted by Bader Al Mutawa (90+7’).
With their second win of the competition, Al Qadsia climbed to second place in the group standings with 8 points, while Al Arabi remained at the bottom with just a single point. Saudi Arabia’s Al Ettifaq continue to lead the table with 12 points, followed by Bahrain’s Al Riffa in third place with 4 points.
Al Arabi looked to make a good start with a breakthrough but several of their attempts were cut off by the rival defence. Al Qadsia broke the deadlock when they won a free kick, about 20 yards away from the box on the left. Mohammed Soula, who took the kick, chose to go over the wall and Berrahma lunged from the right to connect a header which found the far open corner on the left.
The hosts doubled the lead in eleven minutes later as Mobarek Al Faneni dashed in from the left to lob a ball back inside the ‘D’ for Soula to make a strike which was well blocked by Al Arabi goalkeeper Mahmud Abunad but the ball bounced out and Al Mutar struck between defenders to find the net.
Left with an uphill task, Al Arabi tried to make a comeback in the second half but their forways failed to find a good finish despite they coming close on a few occasions. Later, towards the end when Al Arabi tried to push things, an Abdou Diallo header was held safely by Qadsia goalkeeper Khaled Al Rashidi.
In the stoppage time, a counter from Qadsia saw an attacking kick finding an Al Arabi defender’s hand on the way, and the referee after a VAR called for the penalty. Al Mutawa took the spot kick to shoot in the right corner and make it 3-0 much to the delight of the home fans.
