Umm Salal held leaders Al Arabi to a thrilling 1-1 draw in Week 7 of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium on Tuesday.

This was Al Arabi’s first draw result of the season. They now have 16 points and Umm Salal seven.

Al Arabi, who were reduced to 10 men after Marc Muniesa received a red card for bringing down a charging Jonathan Kodjia in the 90th minute, led 1-0 at half-time after Abdulaziz Al Ansari scored in the 40th minute. Umm Salal won the equaliser with an outstanding long-range strike from Portuguese Joao Carlos Teixeira in the 50th minute.

It was a challenging contest with both teams playing at a frenetic pace. It was Umm Salal who made the initial attacking moves and their star striker Kodjia even came close to scoring in the 35th minute as he made space from the centre of the box to make a good kick, but goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada was alert.

Al Arabi got into the act soon and Al Ansari produced a fine goal picking on a perfect pass from Omar Al Soma, much to the delight of the team’s fans at the stadium.

Five minutes later, Al Arabi’s Helal Mohammed had a good shot, but it just flew over the crossbar.

Al Arabi kept coming back as Martinez made a sprint to shoot but Abunada foiled it. 

A big chance for Umm Salal came in the dying minutes of the first half when Sardor Rashidov had a crack at the goal, but a diving Abunada’s left hand deflected the ball to safety.

Soon in the second half, Umm Salal came charging and Teixeira produced an electrifying moment as he scored from almost 40 yards with a brilliant right footer that found the far left corner of the net.

Towards the end, tempers flared as players battled hard to make the breakthrough. And as Abdulrahman Zaky of Umm Salal held on tight to Al Arabi’s Brazilian player Rafinha, it saw Al Arabi’s Ahmed Fathi lose his cool. But he was settled down by a good call from their coach from the sidelines.

Later, Umm Salal’s dying-moment efforts were again fended off by Al Arabi’s goalkeeper Abunada for the match to end at 1-1.