Al Arabi 3 El Jaish 4

Romarinho with last gasp winner in seven goal thriller

QSL side El Jaish ran out 4-3 winners against Al Arabi in a pulsating QSL tie on Thursday evening tie at Al Arabi stadium. Two goals in ether half including a stoppage time winner from Romarinho snatched the points away from a spirited Al Arabi side who fought their way back into the tie from two goals down.

Jaish started the tie on the front foot, and laid down early marker on the fifth minute when Captain Seidou Keita whipped a free kick just wide.

It was the Malian midfielder’s only significant contribution of the match as he was promptly substituted after a knock on the 8^th minute; much to the concern of Jaish head Coach Sabri Lamouchi.

The Solders bossed the early exchanges, and deservedly opened the scoring on the 21^st minute. Uzbeki winger Sardor Rashidov was dangerous on the wing and delivered a defensive splitting pass to Magid Mohammed who masterfully evaded his marker Mustapha Sall for a simple tap in.

Al Arabi looked shell shocked and defended for their lives against the consistent Jaish attacks. Dream team defender Omar Al Amadi managed a long distance shot, which was easily saved by Jaish keeper Khalifa Ababacar.



Sabri Lamouchi’s side thundered into a two goal lead on the 38^th minute, a perfect cross from Mohammed Yazeedi found Hamza and the young attacker headed past Arabi stopper Rajab Hamza for his first goal for El Jaish.

On the stroke of half time Arabi where handed a lifeline, after the referee pointed to the penalty spot after midfielder Omar Al Amadi was knocked down in the area. Captain Boualem Khoukhi stepped up and slotted away first time, only for the referee to spot an infringement in the area meaning the spot kick had to be retaken.

Boualem stepped up again blasted into the bottom left hand side of the goal, with El Jaish going into the break with a 2-1 lead.

The second half started with a host of changes with Al Arabi bringing on Paulinho and new signing Ahmed Maqsoud. Jaish also brought on attacker Romarinho in a bid to push on for the win. Sabri Lamouchi’s substation could have paid off in the 50^th minute when Romarinho was bundled down in the box after a surging run; however the penalty claim was turned down by the referee.

Al Arabi found an equalizer on the 60^th minute courtesy Mohammed Jumma. The defender’s well placed shot from outside the box evaded keeper Khalifa Ababacar and nestled into the back of the net, leaving the Dream Team faithful in raptures.

After the goal Al Arabi kept possession well, probing for a winning goal as El Jaish seemingly tired. Arabi grabbed a third on the 76^th minute after a moment of magic from winger Imoh Ezekiel. The Nigerian international exchanged passes on the right wing, beating two El Jaish defenders in the process and pulled it back for Yusef Ahmed who tapped in for his second goal of the season.

Jaish pushed hard for an equalizer and where deservedly rewarded with five minutes to spare, Sardor Rashidov unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box. Unfortunately the effort rebounded off Arabi midfielder Ahmed Fatehi and into the back into the net.

El Jiash completed the turnaround with a fine individual run from substitute Romarinho in injury time gave Sabri Lamouchi’s side the winner. The jinxing run from the mercurial attacker evaded several Arabi defenders to calmly slot into the bottom corner, to give the soldiers a famous 4-3 win.