Benzema scores twice but Al-Ittihad loses 4-2 to Al-Duhail in Asian Champions League
Doha (AP) Karim Benzema scored twice but Al-Ittihad lost 4-2 to Al-Duhail of Qatar in the Asian Champions League Elite on Monday.
It was the Saudi Arabian champion's third loss in five games in the continental competition. The top eight from the 12-team western zone group stage — the first round of the tournament is split into geographic halves — advance to the knockout phase.
Algerian forward Adil Boulbina put Al-Duhail in control with a hat trick — scoring twice in the first half and adding a third seven minutes after the restart.
Polish forward Krzysztof Piatek made it 4-0 with 16 minutes remaining, before Benzema struck twice for the two-time champion.
Ittihad's Jeddah rival Al-Ahli lost 1-0 at home to Al-Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates.
Ousmane Camara put Sharjah ahead with just nine minutes remaining. Al-Ahli, the defending champion, thought it had rescued a point in the 90th minute, but Ziyad Al-Johani's would-be goal was ruled out for offside.
Earlier, Tractor of Iran continued its solid campaign with a 1-0 win at Uzbekistan's Nasaf Qarshi to move into second behind Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal. Al-Ahli Dubai defeated Qatar's Al-Gharafa 2-0.
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SIT formed to probe second sexual assault case against expelled Cong MLA Mamkootathil
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe a second case of sexual assault against expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, police officials said on Friday.
The SIT will be led by G Poonguzhali, Assistant Inspector General at the Police Headquarters.
The team also includes a DSP rank officer and sub-inspectors, officials added.
The second sexual assault complaint was received by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, which it forwarded to the state police chief.
ALSO READ: Cong expels rape-accused MLA Mamkootathil from party's primary membership
Following this, the Crime Branch registered a case and launched an investigation.
Crime Branch officials said the email complaint contained only the sender's email ID and no other contact details.
As part of the probe, they have sent a reply email requesting that the complainant contact them and provide her statement.
The complainant has alleged that she was sexually assaulted under the false promise of marriage, a Crime Branch official said.
However, details such as the location and date of the alleged incident are not currently available to the police.
The SIT will attempt to trace the sender of the email and record her statement, which is crucial for further investigation, the officer said.
Mamkootathil was expelled from the Congress party on Thursday after a court here rejected his anticipatory bail petition in another rape case.
Police said he is currently absconding, and a manhunt is underway in Kerala and neighbouring states.
