Khalfan Ibrahim beauty helps Al Arabi beat Al Kharaitiyat

Doha: Khalfan Ibrahim might not be the unstoppable player he once was, but the Al Arabi forward showed he has not lost his magic touch with a beautiful free kick as the Reds defeated another struggling side Al Kharaitiyat 2-1 in the QNB Stars League on Friday.

Khalfan, who joined from Al Sadd at the start of the season have not been influenceable to the matches in a way he would have liked, but his unstoppable freekick in the 41st minute, that had Kharaitiyat goalkeeper Ahmed Sufiyan rooted to his spot as it bent over the wall and dipped inside the goal, surely had a big part in deciding the fate of the game.

Mohammed Salem added a second with an equally delightful finish in the 85th while Kharaitiyat’s  89th-minute reply through Mahmoud Saad was too little too late.

The win helped Arabi, with 15 points, move to 10th position at the expense of their rivals who are on 13.

Yannick Sagbo also scored a cracking goal from a freekick as Umm Salal defeated Al Sailiya 1-0 in the other match of the day to move to fourth.

Umm Salal are on 27 points while Sailiya, who are finding it difficult to win games after a bright start to their campaign, are fifth on 25.