Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Saturday, October 25, 2025 22:54 / Updated Saturday, October 25, 2025 23:09
Al Arabi won the first championship match under the command of the Romanian Cosmin Contra, 3-1 with Al Sadd in the 8th stage of the Qatar league.
Al Arabi had not won in the championship since August 29. It was needed installation of Cosmin Contra for the Doha team to feel the taste of victory again.
On 19 October, Contra made a successful debut on the new team's bench, 4-0 against Al Duhail in the Qatar Cup. Today, the former selector had the first championship match with the team that convinced him to return to the circuit.
Al Arabi wins first league match with Cosmin Contra at the helm
Al Sadd opened the scoring in the 39th minute, through Afif, but Contra's students turned the score around before the break. Olunga scored in '43, Suhail's own goal ('45) put Al Arabi in the lead. To make the end of the first half even more perfect, the left back of the hosts, Paulo Otavio, was eliminated in '45+7.
In the second half, Contra's Iberian striker Rodri set up the final score. He scored in the 80th minute and was named man of the match.
Before the game, Cosmin Contra declared himself “fully aware that the team is going through a difficult period”, but confident that “we have the ability to overcome these circumstances”.
With the points obtained today, the first in the championship in the last two months, Al Arabi climbed to 8th place out of 12, now having a total of 7 points. The last ranked, the only one that drops directly, has 3 points.
