Gritty Jaish edge out Arabi in a seven-goal thriller

El Jaish edged out Al Arabi 4-3 yesterday evening in a pulsating QSL tie at Lekhwiya stadium. Jaish raced into a two goal lead thanks to Lucas Mendes and Romarinho, before being pegged back by Al Arabi who scored through Emoh Ezekial and Luis Jiménez. Jaish thought they scored the winner in the 75th minute via a tap in from Rashidov before Arabi struck an equalizer Boualem Khoukhi moments later. In second half stoppage time the soldiers grabbed the winner through a specualar strike through Rashidov.El Jaish’s early dominance finally told with defender Lucas Mendes opened the scoring with his second goal of the season courtesy of a thumping header with the game just four minutes old.Within ten minutes Jaish had doubled their lead thanks to Romainho’s twelfth  goal of the season. Arabi upped the pressure and pulled a goal back in the 24th minute through Nigerian attacker Emoh Ezekial. Jaish looked the stronger side as the half progressed and perhaps should of gone into the break 3-1 up. Fortunately for Al Arabi, keeper Rajab Hamza pulled off a world-class save to push the ball onto the post to deny Mohammad Mothnani on the thirty eighth minute Jaish where to rue that chance as the tie went into first half stoppage  as defender Ali Sanad saw red for his remonstrations with the assistant referee over an off the ball incident. Arabi came out fighting in the second half and registered their intent with a spectacular curling freekick from Jiménez on the forty sixth minute, which was tipped over by Jaish keeper Saoud Al Khater. The Dream Team pressed ahead with their one man advantage and Jimenez’s near post shot was denied thanks to another save from Al Khater. On the hour mark, Arabi drew thanks to Luis Jiménez who made the score 2-2 on the evening. Moments later the tie took another turn when Al Arabi was also reduced to 10 men, after defender Vivien Assie was given his second yellow of the match after a cynical tackle on Romarinho. With seventy five minutes on the clock, Sabri Lamouchi’s side took a 3-2 lead thanks in part to a moment of magic from substitute  Abdulgadir Ilyas who produced a perfect cross for Sardor Rashidov for a simple tap in. Al Arabi showed plenty of fighting spirit and moments later captain Boualem Khoukhi curled in a powerful driven free-kick to level the scores at 3-3. The tie opened up in stoppage time with both sides looking for a winner, eventually it was Jaish who came out on top with a 91st minute winner from their stand out player Sardor Rashidov. On the breakaway, Jaish attacker Romarinho played a neat pass to Rashidov on the edge of the box. The Uzbekistan international exhibited plenty of class to curl the ball past Rajab Hamza for his second of the match to give Jaish a famous 4-3 victory, they same scoreline they defeated Al Arabi in their first match this season. Al Sadd keeps pressure on Lekhwiya with 1-0 win over Al AhliAl Sadd beat Al Ahli 1-0 in a hard-fought contest at Al Ahli Stadium yesterday.The Wolves, who are still undefeated so far this season, secured a vital three points to keep the pressure up on league leaders Lekhwiya. The game started at a frenetic pace with some decent spells of possession for both teams. Possession began to tilt in Al Ahli’s favour after ten minutes of play and the first proper attempt on goal came when their number 9, Abdul Raihman, watched his decent effort from 18 yards out take a minor deflection off the head of a defender and sail over the crossbar by a matter of inches.Al Ahli continued to have the lion’s share of possession and the best chance of the first half came when their talismanic captain, Meshael, managed to get in front of his marker and make a dash towards the near post to connect with a fierce cross from Ali Fereydoun. Despite Meshael getting to Fereydoun’s cross first, Al Sadd’s Hamid Ismail did just enough to put him off and Meshael’s effort went just wide of the post.The second half started much like the first half ended, with Al Sadd stepping it up a gear and dominating the game with their captain Xavi Hernandez doing what he does best and controlling the game from midfield. Al Sadd’s breakthrough came on the 56th minute when they managed to breakdown Al Ahli’s defence and their number 9, Meshaal Al Shammary, found himself within acres of space in the 18 yard box. Al Shammary took one touch before drilling the ball into the top right hand corner of the goal, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.Al Khor grab vital three points against Al SailiyaLeague strugglers Al Khor grabbed a vital three points against fellow relegation strugglers Al Sailiya after beating them 3-1 yesterday at the Al Ahli Stadium.Both sides headed into the game hovering dangerously above the QSL relegation zone so were hoping for a crucial three points to try and pull away from trouble. It was Al Khor that got off to a dream start, bagging a goal with just three minutes gone thanks to a goal from their Brazilian import Madison who slotted home from close range. Al Sailiya started the second half well and were playing fluid football until their big number 4, Mostafa Mohamed, took a high boot to the face and needed a lengthy treatment. This stoppage seemed to break Al Sailiya’s concentration and just two minute after play had restarted, Madison struck again to make it 2-0 from ten yards out.Al Sailiya looked to regain their composure but Mohsen Yagur made it 3-0 in the 79th minute. There was some last minute drama and a consolation goal for Al Sailiya after they were awarded a penalty on the 91st minute. Despite Al Khor’s goalkeeper Baba Jibril saving the first attempt, replays showed he left his line before the ball was struck and he was sent off with a second yellow card for his protests to the referee who blew for the penalty to be retaken.Al Khor had already used all their substitutes so up stepped his outfield teammate, Ali Abdul Karim, who valiantly put the gloves on and nearly saved the penalty.  There was just too much power behind the spot kick though and it went in to finish the game 3-1 to Al Khor. The vital three points draws Al Khor level with Al Sailiya in the league with 15 points each.ResultsAl Sailiya 1 – 3 Al Khor; Lekhwiya SC 3 – 0 Al Gharafa; Al Ahli 0 – 1 Al Sadd; El Jaish 4 – 3 Al Arabi