DOHA (Qatar): Al Arabi overcame their Amir Cup final loss last Friday with a comfortable 3-1 win over Al Kharaitiyat at the Qatar Stars League match on Wednesday.
Ibrahim Nasser Kalla (16th minute), Mehrdad Mohammadi (47th minute) and Aron Gunnarsson (55th minute) scored for the winners.
Rachid Tiberkanine scored the only goal of Al Kharaitiyat in the 50th minute.
The victory helped Al Arabi take their points tally to nine while Kharaitiyat remained with six points.
After a slow start, Al Arabi picked up momentum with a threatening move that lacked finishing touch in the third minute. Al Arabi captain Ahmed Fathy covered plenty of ground on the right flank before slipping in a cross for Iranian team-mate Mehrdad, who jumped for a snap-header from close range, but his deflection was grabbed by keeper Shehab Ellethy.
In the 12th minute, a similar move involving the same players ended with Mehrdad’s weak header going a little wayward on a cross from Fathy on the flank.
Four minutes later, Al Arabi opened the scoring. Ibrahim, with nobody marking him, picked up a short cross near the half-line and then charged ahead solo. Around 5-6 yards from the edge of the Al Kharaitiyat box, Nasser curled in a spectacular right-footed shot that swung in late and beat the diving keeper.
Al Kharaitiyat’s Mohammed Osman twice attempted long-range shots (27th and 32nd minute) from the edge of the Al Arabi box, but on both occasions he was wayward as The Thunders were not allowed much breathing space by Al Arabi backline.
In the second half, three quick goals were scored. Mehrdad, after receiving a short pass, charged into the Al Karaitiyat box with Mahmoud Abdelhalim giving a hot chase, but the former stopped the ball and then in the same momentum produced a left-footed clip into the goal. The ball swung and dipped into the far right of the keeper.
In the 51st minute, after receiving a cross from Osman, Tiberkanine charged ahead with the ball inside the box before calmly slotting it into the Al Arabi net.
Then came the spectacular goal. Gunnarsson, after receiving a short pass near the edge of his own box, ran with the ball for short distance and then in one single move fired the ball from around 70 yards into the net with Al Kharaitiyat keeper way out of position. The long-range shot took the goalkeeper by surprise and he could do little to stop the ball from going into the net.
