Al Khor staged a brilliant fightback to hold Al Arabi to an entertaining 2-2 draw in Week 1 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Al Ahli Stadium on Friday.

Al Khor lagged behind by two first-half goals scored by Al Arabi’s Mohammed Salah El Neel in the 22nd and 39th minutes, but they replied through Ibrahim Amada’s penalty conversion in the 72nd minute and Helal Mohammed’s last-gasp goal (90+3).

Al Arabi called the shots in the first half and were rightly rewarded, whereas Al Khor showed more purpose in the latter session and shared the honours.

El Neel started the scoring act by heading in Abdullah Marafi’s cross from the right. He was at it again when he was left with an open goal after Harbi Harbaoui rounded Al Khor goalkeeper Baba Djibril following Abdulaziz Al Ansari’s through pass.

Al Khor grew into the game and reduced the margin as Amada found the mark from the spot, with the penalty awarded for Ibrahim Nasser’s foul on Abdulla Al Moraisi.

Helal, who was the pick of Al Khor players with a good game throughout, finally found the target with a long-range swerving shot that went in after hitting the right post, past the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada.

The result was more an advantage for Al Khor, who are a determined lot as they had to stay in the top flight by defeating Al Markhiya 2-0 in play-off on 28th August.

The play-off pitted 11th-placed team in the QNB Stars League against Second Division runners-up of 2019-20 season.

Al Khor, placed 11th with 17 points, had only one point more than directly-relegated side Al Shahania, so The Knights will be keen to avoid a similar situation this time around.

Al Arabi, who finished seventh last season, are traditional powerhouses in Qatar football with a large and passionate fan base. The Dream Team have the potential to come back with a bang.

Source