Alkass Digital
A Julian Draxler brace proved not enough for Al Ahli for an outright win as they played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Al Arabi in Week 5 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium on Sunday.
Draxler’s goals for Al Ahli came in the 76th and 90th minutes after Oumar Sekou had given them an early lead from the penalty spot in the ninth minute.
Al Arabi, who are yet to register a win in the season, got their goals through Ahmed Alaaeldin (39th minute penalty and 65th minutes), while Yousef Msakni scored a stoppage-time goal (90+6 minute) to ensure parity between both sides.
With the result, Al Ahli added a point to their tally to reach 11 points, while Al Arabi now have four points.
The match started on a cautious note for both sides until the eighth minute when the situation changed in favour of Al Ahli after they were awarded a penalty for an infringement on Draxler by goalkeeper Jassim Al Hail in a goalbound situation.
The eventual spot kick was coolly converted by Sekou to give The Brigadiers an early lead.
Undaunted by the deficit, The Dream Team continued to press forward in search of an equaliser, but despite having several opportunities they, however, could not convert them, with the forwards guilty of profligacy in front of goals.
Al Ahli had another call for a penalty kick in the 27th minute for a foul on Abdelrahman Moustafa, but the decision was rescinded after a lengthy VAR check.
By the 37th minute, it was the turn of Al Arabi to get a penalty of their own after Al Ahli’s Matej Mitrovic was adjudged to have fouled Alaaeldin inside the box. The VAR check, this time around, was in favour of Al Arabi and Alaaeldin stood up to brilliantly convert the spot kick in the 39th minute to restore parity for his side.
The stalemate remained as both sides headed for the dugout at half-time.
Al Ahli appeared the more determined of the two sides coming into the second half, as they appeared hellbent on restoring their lead as early as possible, but Al Arabi’s strong defensive line-up put paid to that.
The Brigadiers had a close shave at getting the needed goal in the 60th minute after Sekou was put through by Idrissa Doumbia, but goalkeeper Al Hail perfectly read the moves and quickly came off his line to block the attempt.
Five minutes later, Al Arabi took the lead through Alaaeldin, who finished off a Marco Verratti sublime pass with a superb left-footed shot after fanciful legwork to bring the much-awaited relief to their supportive fans.
With Al Arabi appearing to be cruising to their first win of the season, the situation, however, dramatically changed in the 76th minute, with Draxler waltzing his way past a couple of Al Arabi legs before confidently slotting home to make it 2-2 for his side.
Not satisfied with sharing the spoils, The Brigadiers went for an outright win just at the end of regulation time, with Draxler getting his brace of the night - finishing off a long pass by Driss Fettouhi to break Al Arabi’s heart.
The highly-entertaining encounter eventually ended with Al Arabi getting the equaliser with seconds left to the added time with Msakni firing home a blaster of a shot inside the box, which caught the hapless goalkeeper Marwan Badreldin napping.