Al Arabi have Brazilian striker Junior Dutra to thank as he capped a brilliant individual performance to give his side a slender 3-2 victory against defending QSL champions Lekhwiya.
Al Arabi came flying out of the traps and grabbed a shock lead through Junior Dutra in the 1st minute. The striker pounced on a uncharacteristic defensive error to slot home to give Arabi the lead. The Brazilian was rightly mobbed by his team-mates as he celebrated.
Lekhwiya took their time to get back into the tie and finally had their first chance of note on the 14th minute. Stiker Mohammed Muntari got his feet all wrong, in what could have been a golden chance to equalize after a sustained period of Lekhwiya pressure.
Arabi looked to counter the Lekhwiya dominance of the ball on the break, and looked a constant threat from the constant running of Dutra and strike partner Paulinho. The former Torino man was winning a fair share of the aerial battles against Chico Flores of Lekhwiya.
The Cops quickly shook themselves out of their poor start with Yusef Msakni grabbing the equalizer in a well worked passing move, with South Korean Nam Tae Hee supplying the crucial assist for the Tunisian international scoring his sixth goal of the season.
The QSL champions quickly found their form, and just moments later took the lead through Vladamir Weiss with a fine individual effort from just outside of the box on the 39th minute. The Slovakian had just qualified for next summer’s European Championships, and the midfielder was mobbed by his team-mates as Lekhwiya completed the comeback. The first half ended with Lekhwiya 2-1 up.
Al Arabi looked to get back into the tie and started the second half strongly. A well delivered Ali Jasemi free kick was pushed out by Cops keeper Amine Lecomte. Arabi quickly got struck back an equalizer in the the 60th minute through Junior Dutra. The Brazilian finished from a tight angle much to the joy of the traveling Arabi fans.
Zola’s side grew in confidence and took a deserved 3-2 lead in the 65th minute with Dutra completing his hat-trick. The powerful run and well placed finish was greeted by rapturous support by the vocal Arabi fans. However the tie took a turn for the worse in the 75th minute when Lekhwiya captain Karim Boudiaf was rightly shown a straight red card for a cynical elbow on Dutra.
The energetic Dutra was taken off to a standing ovation from the Arabi fans, the Brazilian had put in a real shift for the dream team. Arabi continued to dominate the ten men of Lekhwiya, and had a host of chances to extend their lead. The pick of which came from Ali Jasemi in the 85th minute, the well worked move was comfortably taken by Amine Lecomte.
Perhaps the biggest concern for Djamel Belmadi was that striker Mohammed Muntari was stretchered off late in the tie. The Qatari international looked in considerable pain, and could be out for a few weeks.
Fortunately for Al Arabi they were able to hold on against the ten men to earn a famous victory against the odds. For both sides they will have to focus for round six where Lekhwiya have a derby match against rivals El Jaish, whilst Arabi will be facing table topping Al Rayyan in what promises to be an interesting derby tie.
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