Arabi and Ahli share points after scoreless draw

Al Arabi and Al Ahli shared points after a drab scoreless draw, while Umm Salal held Al Rayyan 1-1  in the Qatar Stars League here yesterday.Al Arabi, who finished fourth last season, looked the better of the two during early exchanges but failed to create any clear chance against Al Ahli who packed their defence and clogged the middle of the pitch. But Al Ahli’s physical approach saw play being punctuated by frequent fouls, resulting in a string of setpieces for Al Arabi.In the 9th minute, Leonardo Pisculichi was brought down at the middle of Al Ahli territory and the Argentine picked himself up to unleashed a fierce left-foot drive that narrowly missed the target. Algerian defender Boualem Khoki then tested Al Ahli goalkeeper Bassel Zaiden from a distance in the 11th minute before sending another powerful drive over the bar from distance two minutes later.But Al Arabi continued to weave their moves through Al Ahli territory and earned another free-kick in the 28th minute. Khoki did well to shoot around the defensive wall but Zaiden was equal to the task as he punched it away to safety. Al Ahli striker Johan Benson was carried off the field following a collision. But the arrival of his replacement Adel Ahmed saw them raise their game.In the 38th minute, Swede Wilhemsson picked out Ahmed with a clever pass inside the area but the Qatari striker wasted the chance shooting straight into the advancing Masoud Zaire.Wilhemsson, who joined Al Ahli on loan from Saudi side Al Hilal, continued to torment the Al Arabi defence. In the 43rd minute, he sent Ahmed clear inside the area but the striker was disappointing with his finish again, shooting across the face of the goal.As the teams pushed for a lead, Al Arabi went close in the 44th minute off a fluid move involving Pisculichi and Wanderley Dos Santos. But Zaiden was again well alert to deny the Brazilian.   Al Ahli almost took a surprise lead on the stroke of half time when Wilhemsson intercepted a back pass from the Al Arabi defence and set up for Dioko Kaluyituka inside the area. But Masoud Zareire came up with a brilliant block to deny them.   Al Ahli looked the sharper immediately after the break with Wilhelmsson and Dioko Kaluyituka mounting pressure on the Al Arabi defenders.   They had another in the 63rd minute when closely marked Kaluyituka squared the ball towards Ahmed Sayed, who in turn pushed it towards Wilhelmsson. But after losing a couple of markers the Swede failed to put it away, sending his shot across the face of the goal.Al Arabi then took control of the proceedings but despite creating several openings they failed to capitalise on them. Zaiden again rose to the occasion in the 66th minute to block a powerful low shot from Khoki. Al Arabi tried hard until the end, with Pisculichi pushing his strikers from the middle. Deep into the added time, the Argentine centred a cross into the area but Oman Ibrahim sent his attempted volley high over the bar. In the second match, Everaldo de Pereira scored for Umm Salal, while Afonso Alves was on target for Al Rayyan.Today’s fixtures:Al Jaish v Al Khor (6.30pm)Al Sadd v Al Kharaitiyat (8.30pm)