Al Arabi, Al Gharafa Seal Victory in Ooredoo Cup Round 2

Doha, October 06 (QNA) - Al Arabi beat Umm Salal 3-0 in Round 2 (Group B) of the 2020-21 season Ooredoo Cup at the Al Arabi Stadium on Monday. Mehrdad Mohammadi (11th minute), Sebastian Soria (19th minute) and Hamdi Harbaoui (30th minute) scored the goals as Al Arabi moved on to six points with an all-win record, having beaten Al Ahli 5-1 in the opening round. Al Arabi were straightaway in offensive mode and they were up 3-0 in half an hour. Mehrdad started the scoring act with a long-range shot. Soria doubled the lead with a header off a pass by Abdulla Al Marafi and Hamdi was on target with an assist from Soria. Al Arabi took their foot off the pedal in the second half, where Umm Salal were more in the game compared to their performance in the first half. Al Arabi's Marc Martinez was sent off in the 88th minute for fouling Umm Salal's Adnan Mustafa, but that did not have any bearing on the result. In the other game, Al Gharafa defeated Al Rayyan 2-0 in Round 2 (Group B) of the 2020-21 season Ooredoo Cup at the Qatar SC Stadium on Monday. Ahmed Al Janahi (fifth minute) and Koo Ja-Cheol (42nd minute) scored for Al Gharafa, who had blanked Umm Salal by the same margin in Round 1. Al Gharafa have six points, whereas Al Rayyan have yet to open their account. The Lions had lost 1-4 to Al Kharaitiyat in the opening round. Al Gharafa were off the mark even as Al Kharaitiyat were settling down, with Al Janahi scoring off a pass from Abdulghani Muneer. Koo found the target as he volleyed in Andri Syahputra's cross. The result was a blow to Al Rayyan, who had finished as runners-up in the 2019-20 season QNB Stars League one point behind Al Duhail. On the other hand, it boosted the confidence of Al Gharafa, who dominated Al Rayyan with 64 per cent of the ball. The scoreline would have swelled had it not been for the alertness of Al Rayyan goalkeeper Omar Barry, who thwarted Abdulghani Muneer in the 63rd minute and Othman Al Yahri a couple of minutes later. (QNA)