Al-Arabi eliminated from the Asian Challenge

Al-Arabi bid farewell to the Asian Challenge Cup tournament with a 2-0 defeat to Tajik hosts Istiklol on Monday in Dushanbe, in the second matchday of Group 2.

The “Green Team” remained winless after losing 1-0 to Syria’s Al-Hamra in the opening matchday, while Istiklol boosted their chances of advancing by securing their first three points.

Al-Hamra topped the group with six points after a 2-1 victory over Lebanon’s Al-Najma, who remained on three points.

In the final matchday on Friday, Al-Arabi will face Al-Najma, while Istiklol will take on Al-Hamra.

Al-Arabi coach Mohammed Abdulnabi made several changes to his lineup compared to the one that started the first match, bringing in goalkeeper Ahmed Adawi, right-back Talal Al-Matroud, and midfielders Ali Aziz and Hamad Harbi, replacing Sulaiman Abdulghafour, Abdulaziz Nasri, Khaled Al-Murshed, and Ali Khalaf. He retained Abdulwahab Al-Awadi, Jumaa Aboud, Badr Al-Subaie, and Walid Al-Sheikh, along with the attacking trio of Ayanu Iwuala, Zaid Qanbar, and Kinyan Marquini.

Al-Arabi started the match with high pressure on the opponents to deny them possession. The coach deployed Qanbar as a central midfielder, relying on Kinyan and Iwuala for counter-attacks, but these transitions were not executed as required, resulting in a lack of threat against the Tajik goalkeeper, Russian-born Denis Kavlinsky.

Meanwhile, Istiklol sought to control the midfield with Amirbek Juraev, Ihsan Panjshanbi, and Ali Shir Dzhalilov, while Umidjon Khonukhov was active on the right flank.

Istiklol focused on breaking through Al-Arabi’s lines from deep positions, succeeding when Rustam Suyunov executed a one-two with Ihsan, who then played a clever pass to put Suyunov one-on-one with the goal, allowing him to slot the ball into the near corner past Ahmed Adawi (39th minute).

Al-Arabi came out for the second half with two substitutes, Ali Khalaf and Youssef Majed, replacing Al-Sheikh and Kinyan, in an attempt to revitalize their attack. This allowed them to dominate possession, but without creating significant danger, while the home side appeared calmer and more in control of the game.

Al-Arabi’s first real threat to the Tajik goal came in the 75th minute when Qanbar fired a shot that the goalkeeper saved with difficulty on two occasions.

In Al-Arabi’s most dangerous opportunity, Nasri curled a beautiful shot that hit the crossbar and rebounded to Ali Khalaf, who tried to redirect it into the net, but Istiklol’s defense cleared it (80th minute). The substitute Ali Shir Shokurov then sealed the result for Istiklol with a stunning strike from outside the box into the top corner past Adawi (85th minute).