Al Arabi registered their first victory of the season as they defeated Qatar SC 1-0 in Week 5 of the 2023-2024 Expo Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium on Thursday.

Omar Al Somah’s 58th-minute goal made the difference as The Dream Team ended on the winning side in the keenly-contested match.

Al Arabi moved on to six points and Qatar SC stood on two points.

Both teams had lost their Week 4 matches, with Al Arabi going down 0-1 to Al Rayyan and Qatar SC losing 1-3 to Al Sadd.

Like in their last match against Al Rayyan, Yousef Msakni was in the thick of action for Al Arabi right from the blast of the whistle as he made several dangerous incursions into the opponents half, dribbling, setting up razor-sharp passes and all in-between, in an attempt to secure an early goal for his team, who, like Qatar SC, were in search of their first win of the season.

His partnership with Italy international and former PSG midfielder Marco Verratti apparently shored up Al Arabi’s midfield, providing some of the opportunities upfront.

With Al Arabi appearing to be the ‘hungrier’ of the duo, it was therefore not a surprise when Abdullah Marafee was shown the first yellow card of the match in the 43rd minute for a bad foul. Qatar SC could have broken the deadlock with the resultant free-kick had Bruno Tabata not been caught offside, with only goalkeeper Jassim Al Hail to beat, following a through ball from Javi Martinez.

The first half ended in a stalemate as both sides failed to convert any of their many opportunities.

Al Somah finally broke the deadlock after Rafinha Alcantara’s defence-splitting pass located Msakni, whose powerful shot was parried by goalkeeper Al Bustami into the path of Al Somah, who wasted no time in firing home the rebound to the relief of the vociferous Al Arabi supporters.

Three minutes later, Msakni collided with Al Bustami during a one-on-one situation, resulting in an injury to the Qatar SC shot-stopper and a caution for the Tunisian.

Msakni missed an attempt that could have doubled the lead for Al Arabi in the 81st minute, but his right-footed shot from the right side of the box, following an assist from Al Somah, went too high.

Al Somah almost secured his second of the night in the 89th minute after receiving a well-placed pass from Msakni, but his left-footed shot from the centre of the box got blocked by Qatar SC’s Raoul Danzabe.