(MENAFN- Gulf Times)
Together they have tormented Al Duhail's rivals in the QNB Stars League, scoring a mindboggling 44 goals in 19 matches between themselves this season.
Now the hot shot duo seem determined to extend their fame to the rest of the continent.
Namesakes Youssef El Arabi and Youssef Msakni, the collective envy and inescapable agents of despair for many a club in the region, were on song once again as they powered Al Duhail to their third straight win in the AFC Champions League yesterday.
Their 3-2 victory over Uzbek giants Lokomotiv saw them maintain their top spot in Group B but, more importantly, must have sent jitters across other teams in the competition.
El Arabi, who has 23 goals this season, helped Al Duhail make a blistering start to the match by
scoring twice inside the first 20 minutes after being set up by Al Moez Ali on both occasions.
The Moroccan's first goal came via a fierce low shot following a swift passing move in the ninth minute. In the 19th minute, El Arabi doubled the hosts' lead by tapping in to an empty goal after Ali's squared pass for his fourth AFC Champions League goal of the season.
El Arabi then turned provider to Msakni for Al Duhail's third goal in the 25th minute. Msakni latched onto El Arabi's precise through pass and deftly chipped Ignatiy Nesterov to give his side a firm 3-0 lead going into the break.
Lokomotiv looked a different side after the restart and duly pulled a goal back in the 57th minute, with substitute Nivaldo scoring with his first touch just moments after coming on. Two minutes later, Marat Bikmaev made it 3-2 after a lobbed finish over Al Duhail keeper Amine Lecomte.
However, despite pushing hard for an equaliser, Lokomotiv were unable to complete what would have been an impressive comeback.
'It was a great win for us, said Duhail coach Djamel Belmadi.
'We had a bit of a scare in the second half but we never lost control, added the Algerian whose team are on the brink of winning the QNB Stars League.
'I have always said my philosophy is to take one match at a time. Otherwise it puts unnecessary pressure on everybody.
Lokomotiv are in third place with three points but will now look to take revenge when they host Al Duhail in Tashkent next week.
In a late match yesterday, Qatar's Al Rayyan wasted a golden chance to clinch three points away in Riyadh when they were held 1-1 by Saudi giants Al Hilal in Group D.
Abdullah al-Zori's second half goal cancelled out Mohsine Moutouali's early strike as Michael Laudrup's men had to be content with a single point.
Al Rayyan came off the blocks racing and found the back of the net just three minutes into the game after captain Rodrigo Tabata's pass found Moutouali who fired a powerful strike from outside the box that went in off the post to put the Lions in front.
Al Hilal regrouped quickly and came close to levelling the score in the ninth minute when Achraf Bencharki's close range shot from a narrow angle was blocked by defender Ahmed Yasser.
Al Rayyan thought they had doubled their lead just before the half hour mark when Abderazak Hamdallah beat the goalkeeper, only to see his goal ruled out for offside.
The Saudi side started the second half brighter and in the 58th minute, Bencharki sent an intelligent pass into the box for overlapping left-back Al Zori who struck with venom into the top right corner to earn his side a point on the night.
The 2017 runners-up remain without a win in the group and will next travel to Doha to face Al Rayyan, who have now drawn all their three games.
Meanwhile, a Morteza Tabrizi brace fired Zobahan to a 2-0 home win over the UAE's Al Wahda in the same group.
In the East Zone, a Fabio Cannavaro's Guangzhou Evergrande roared back from 2-0 down with four second-half goals from Ricardo Goulart completing a sensational 5-3 win over Jeju United.
On a night when it rained goals, Cannavaro's former club Tianjin Quanjian were thumped 6-3 at 2016 winners Jeonbuk Motors, whose giant striker Kim Shin-wook bagged his first Champions League hat-trick.
Evergrande, the club who have declared they want to field an all-Chinese side by 2020, had to thank their two prolific Brazilian forwards for the victory over their Korean visitors.
The Chinese champions found themselves 2-0 down after 29 minutes at the Tianhe Stadium to goals from Jin Seong-uk and Magno Cruz.
But Goulart's goal spree thrilled the raucous home crowd after fellow Brazilian Alan's opener deep into first-half stoppage time had given Guangzhou a lifeline.
The 2006 World Cup-winning captain Cannavaro had endured a stuttering start at the southern Chinese city club since taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Evergrande to a seventh successive Chinese Super League (CSL) title last year.
Evergrande drew both their previous Group G matches and lost their CSL opener 5-4 to derby rivals Guangzhou R & F on Friday.
But they now lead Group G by a point from Thailand's Buriram United, who enjoyed a 2-0 home win over Japan's Cerezo Osaka courtesy of goals from Andres Tunez and Edgar Silva.
Last updated: March 07 2018 12:36 AM
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