Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeddah: Mohammed Faouzi scored deep into stoppage time as Al Ittihad rounded off their Group B campaign by coming from behind twice to beat Al Arabi 3-2 in Jeddah on Wednesday.
Boualem Khoukhi struck twice for the Qatari club in the first half, either side of Hosni Abdrabou's response for the home side.
But Fabrice Nguessi-Ondama netted Al Ittihad's second equaliser in the 64th minute before Faouzi secured the Saudi club's fifth win in six matches right at the end of the game.
It was the sixth consecutive loss for the Qatari side and tempers boiled over after the final whistle when Al Arabi goalkeeper Masoud Zeraei was shown a red card for taking his protests too far after he argued that he been fouled in the build-up to Nguessi-Ondama's equaliser.
Al Ittihad had already sealed top spot in the group ahead of the match but the fans at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium were stunned into silence when Khoukhi fired the visitors ahead after nine minutes with a brilliantly-struck free-kick that flew past goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid into the left corner of the net.
Abdrabou levelled the score on the half-hour mark when he was found unmarked on a cross from the left and took his time before unleashing a powerful right-footed shot past Zeraei.
But in stoppage time at the end of the first half, a defensive error by Redha Takar allowed the visitors to regain the lead. He failed to clear a cross from the right and Khoukhi took full advantage to fire a powerful volley past Zaid.
Al Ittihad got back on level terms in the 64th minute with a controversial goal by Nguessi-Ondama. Zeraei appeared to be fouled as he tried to clear a corner from the left. But as he went down clutching his head, the referee allowed play to go on and Saudi Khariri nodded the ball back towards Nguessi-Ondama, who half-volleyed the ball into the net.
Despite that goal, Al Arabi looked to have done enough to avoid becoming the first team since 2007 to lose all six group games in the AFC Champions League. But in the third minute of stoppage time, Faouzi received a pass on the edge of the Al Arabi box and managed to get just enough on his shot to send it past Zeraei in the far corner of the net.
Raul Caneda maintained his unbeaten record as coach of Al Ittihad and he lauded his players for their battling performance.
"The match tonight was good preparation for us before our Round of 16 match," said the Spanish coach.
"Their opening goal affected us badly and we did not show a quick reaction in the game.
"But in the second half, we showed that we are a good team. It was hard for the players to start the game well especially as there was no motivation. However, they played for the pride of Al Ittihad in the second half and I'm happy with their performance."
Al Arabi assistant coach Abdelaziz Bennij was left to rue yet another defeat by his side.
"We had a good start to the match especially when we took the lead," he said. "However, Al Ittihad returned strongly to the game twice and then scored the winning goal in the dying minutes, which affected us badly."
"The players put in a lot of effort but they were trying to get back into defence after taking the lead twice and that allowed Al Ittihad to control the game."
Photo: AFP