Rodri Sanchez in action.
Doha: Rodri Sanchez netted a brace (33rd and 45th minutes) to spearhead a strong Al Arabi attack as the Dream Team defeated Al Ahli 4-2 in a thrilling Ooredoo Stars League encounter yesterday.
At Al Thumama StadiumHassan Alaaeddin and Ahmed Alaaeddin added one each to power Al Arabi's win which extended the team's points tally to 19 points.
Julian Draxler opened the scoring from the penalty spot for Al Ahli in the 14th minute, following a foul on him by Ahmed Fathy.
Al Ahli almost doubled their lead two minutes later, but Al Arabi goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada made a fine save to deny Hamad Mansour who took the shot. Al Arabi's opening goal came in the 29th minute when Hassan Alaaeddin tucked away a clever pass from Youssef Msakni.
Roger Guedes celebrates after scoring a goal.
Rodri then put Al Arabi ahead, pouncing on a rebound from Alaaeddin’s shot to beat the Al Ahli custodian Marwan Badreldin.
Sanchez secured his brace just before halftime to give Al Arabi a comfortable 3-1 lead.
Al Arabi dominated early in the second half. Still, Al Ahli managed to narrow the gap in the 79th minute when substitute Oumar Sekou converted from the penalty spot following a foul play by Luiz Ceara. However, Ahmed Alaaeldin sealed the deal for Al Arabi with a late penalty in stoppage time.
Following the result, Al Arabi climbed to the eighth spot in the standings, while Al Ahli remained on 28 points in the fourth spot.
Elsewhere, Al Rayyan crushed a 10-man Al Wakrah 4-0 in another Week 16 encounter.
At Stadium 974, Suhaib Gannan was sent off in the opening minute for bringing down Mohamed Abdelfatah Surag, putting Al Wakrah in early trouble.
Roger Guedes opened the scoring in the 29th minute.
Goals from Tameem Al Abdullah (51st), an own goal by Alexander Scholz (67th) and another Guedes strike in the 81st minute sealed the deal for Al Rayyan. Al Rayyan climbed to seventh on 21 points following the victory, while Al Wakrah dropped to tenth, remaining on 17 points. At the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, Goalkeeper Shehab Mamdouh Ellethy came out as the hero when he made a fine stoppage-time penalty save as Al Shahania sealed a thrilling 3-2 win over Umm Salal.
Umm Salal won a golden penalty after a VAR following a goal-mouth battle in the 90+3 minute, but Ellethy judged Oussama Tannane’s kick perfectly diving to his right to secure a fourth successive win for his team.
Their seventh win of the championship saw Al Shahania’s points tally swell to 23 points and took them to 5th place in the standings while Umm Salal with a tenth defeat are in 11th place with 14 points.
