Abu Dhabi: A brace of goals from Yousuf Al Arabi saw Qatar’s Al Duhail rally from a goal down to beat host Al Wahda 3-2 in the AFC Champions League Group B fixture at the Shaikh Zayed Sports City Stadium yesterday.
Al Wahda, who suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Lokomotiv Tashkent in their opening fixture, shot into lead in the fourth minute through a penalty.
Al Duhail’s Sultan Al Brake brought down Murad Batna and referee Mohammad Amirul pointed it out to the spot. Argentine striker Sebastian Tagliague, back in the side after missing the first outing, shot home with ease.
Thereafter, the hosts shut shop and were more content on being on their defensive until the break. The visitors pressed hard after the change of ends and found the equaliser in the 57th minute. Al Arabi shot home from close after being set by Yousuf Msakni.
Pumped up by that goal, the visitors piled on more pressure and defender Salem Sultan buckled. A feeble clearance effort from Sultan allowed Al Duhail’s Karim Boudiaf to steal the ball and slot it into the bottom right corner.
The lead was then widened to 3-1 with Al Arabi completing his brace with a header from the centre of the box off a cross from Al Brake in the 80th minute.
Just before injury time, Al Wahda got another penalty after Tagliabue was brought down. Once again the culprit was Al Brake and Batna made no mistake from the spot to reduce the margin to 3-2.
