Al Arabi defeated Al Wakrah 4-2 in a strong Week 20 contest of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Stadium of Al Wakrah club on Friday.

Omar Al Somah netted a brace for Al Arabi in the 64th and 87th minutes, while Alaaedin Hassan (37th minute) and  Yousef Msakni (90+10 minute) were the other scorers for The Dream Team.

Al Wakrah’s both goals were scored by Mohamed Benyettou in the fourth and 90+2 minute penalty.

With the result, Al Arabi are now on 26 points, while Al Wakrah remained on 37 in the league standings.

Al Wakrah got off to a dream start after finding the back of the net in the fourth minute of play through Benyettou, who powered home a right-footed shot to the top left-hand corner of Al Arabi’s goal following a long throw by Lucas Sainsbury.

The early goal became a confident booster for The Blue Wave as they began to assert their dominance with each passing minute of the game, while Al Arabi were forced to play defence for the majority of the early minutes of first half.

Al Arabi gradually began to assert themselves in the game towards the closing minutes of the first half and their effort was rewarded in the 37th minute when Al Wakrah’s Khalid Muneer’s feeble attempt at clearing the ball in his 18-yard box was resisted by a determined Msakni who managed to get the ball off him before squaring it to Alaaeldin to grab the equaliser.

With the scores even, the match became evenly balanced, with both teams seeking the lead, however unsuccessfully, before the interval break.

Al Arabi came out stronger in the second half and they could have got the lead in the 47th minute had Msakni not missed a sitter, with the ball rolling off his boot, with only goalkeeper Saoud Al Khater to beat.

The Dream Team’s wait for another goal appeared to have been over three minutes later when Msakni found the net from Al Somah’s assist, but the goal was however stood down after a lengthy VAR check, with the Al Arabi captain adjudged to have been offside prior to the goal.

Things turned for the worse for Al Wakrah in the 59th minute as they were reduced to 10 men after Omar Ali’s initial yellow card was exchanged for a red, after a VAR review, for a bad tackle on Msakni.

With a man down, Al Wakrah were forced to be on the defensive by their opponents and it was therefore not surprising that Al Arabi got the lead in the 64th minute, with Al Somah netting from close range after a sublime pass from  Alaaeldin.

Thirteen minutes later, Al Somah got his brace of the night with a right-footed thunderbolt of a shot from a tight angle after a headed pass from Marco Verratti, to make it three for his side.

The goal was like a wake-up call for Al Wakrah as their pattern of play changed from thereon as they went in search of cutting the deficit and a possible equaliser.

Their efforts were rewarded in the second minute of added time, with Benyettou getting a goal back from the spot after a foul on Hamdi Fathi.

Despite The Blue Wave’s attempt at getting an equaliser, it was Al Arabi who extended their lead with a fourth goal in 10 minutes of added time through Msakni from an Al Somah assist to ensure the maximum points for coach Younes Ali’s men.