DOHA (Qatar): Al Wakrah recorded a significant 2-1 victory over Al Arabi in Qatar Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium on Thursday.
Cristian Ceballos (71st-minute penalty) and Omar Ali (75th-minute) scored for Al Wakrah as The Blue Wave raised their tally to 24 points.
It was their sixth victory as they are featuring in the top flight after a space of two seasons.
The defeat, their seventh this season, further dented Al Arabi’s hopes of making it to the top four as they stayed on 25 points. Hamdi Harbaoui scored their goal in the 20th minute through a penalty.
It was a brilliant fightback by Al Wakrah, after being down by a goal for 70 minutes, against a 10-man Al Arabi side after The Dream Team’s Khalaf Saad was red-carded in the 12th minute for fouling Al Wakrah’s Jassim Al Jalabi.
Al Wakrah missed the services of their spearhead Mohamed Benyettou, one of the tournament top scorers who got injured during their game against Al Khor in Week 19.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Al Arabi surged ahead, Hamdi finding the target with a penalty awarded after Lucas Mendes fouled Al Arabi skipper Ahmed Fathy.
Omar sent his shot against the right upright in the 25th minute, while Al Arabi’s Marc Martinez skied a free-kick in first-half injury time.
Al Wakrah, who started the second half with striker Meshaal Abdullah, had more of the ball (65 per cent) at the end. A sudden splurge in attacks saw them pump in two goals inside of four minutes.
First, Ceballos converted from the spot after Martinez brought down Ali Karami.
Then, Omar, always lurking at the rival goal, came up with a diving header off a typical Murad Naji cross from the right.
Al Arabi’s German forward Pierre-Michel Lasogga came off the bench in the 80th minute and he was unlucky with a header.
Lasogga’s team-mate and fellow substitute Yousef Abdulrazaq’s rising shot flew over the bar in the 86th minute and Al Wakrah cruised to a famous win.
It may be recalled that the first-leg match between the teams had ended in a 2-2 draw.
