Al Rayyan set up a mouth-watering Amir Cup final with arch-rivals Al Sadd after beating Al Duhail 2-1 in a high-intensity semi-final at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
A victory last night handed ‘The Lions’ a golden chance to win their first Amir Cup title since 2013, also giving an opportunity to French coach Laurent Blanc to clinch his first trophy in Qatar.
Dame Traoré grabbed lead for Al Rayyan with a goal in 13th minute before captain Yacine Brahimi converted a penalty in 59th minute to double the lead. Michael Olunga pulled one back for Al Duhail in 81st minute.
Sabri Lamouchi-coached Al Duhail were a better side in terms of launching attacks but Al Rayyan were paid for holding nerves in a tense semi-final, which witnessed a scuffle in stoppage time resulting in red card to Al Duhail captain Almoez Ali and yellow cards to Paulo Edmilson and Al Rayyan’s Mohammed Juma.
The second semi-final, as expected, got off to a fast start as both the top Qatari sides exchanged attacks in the first five minutes, with Al Rayyan winning a couple of corners soon after the kick off.
Al Duhail striker Olunga got the first real chance but his header from a good position after Edmilson’s cross was off target.
Almoez’s strike from edge of the box also flew high as Al Duhail begun to put pressure on Al Rayyan. However, ‘The Lions’ took the lead from a diving header by Terawari, who evaded his marker to connect a corner kick, taken by Abdelaziz Hatim.
Traoré’s strike took Sultan Al Brake’s deflection but it still landed in goal to open account for Al Rayyan. Al Duhail thought they found an equaliser the next minute but Medhi Benatia’s goal was disallowed for offside.
The Red Knights piled up pressure on Al Rayyan with repeated attacks but they were missing proper execution. In a counter attack after the halfhour mark, Moufak Awad got a chance to double lead for Al Rayyan but his last touch from a difficult angle took Al Duhail goalkeeper Salah Zakaria’s deflection.
However, Al Duhail were still dominating the proceedings owing to some good show by Almoez and Olunga.
Just before the break, Mohamed Musa got a good chance to score for Al Duhail after receiving a ball from Ali Nozar inside the box but his strike missed the target by a few inches as Al Rayyan returned to the tunnel with an advantage.
Al Duhail, who held 67 percent of ball possession in the first half, attempted 13 shots but they were on target on only a couple of occasions.
Out of three Al Rayyan’s shots, two were well aimed on goal including Traoré’s blow.
Soon after the match resumed, Yohan Boli taking advantage of an error by Bassam Alrawi, set up Awad but Zakaria thwarted the attack by blocking his hit showing good reflexes. Olunga’s header from Edmilson’s cross again flew over the crossbar as Al Duhail continued seeking the elusive goal.
However, it was Al Rayyan, who managed to score their second goal a minute before one-hour mark with captain Brahimi netting the ball comfortably from spot kick.
Al Brake, who was trying to stop Awad from coming close to the goal, was penalised by referee Khamis Al Marri immediately for a reckless tackle.
‘The Lions’ further solidified their defense after their second goal giving no space to Al Duhail. Al Rayyan goalkeeper Fahad Younis received treatment after a collision with Mohammed Muntari, who came off the bench in 66th minute.
Al Duhail finally broke Al Rayyan’s defense, nine minutes before time when Olunga’s low header from substitute Khaled Mohammed’s cross reduced their deficit.
The goal revived hopes for Al Duhail, who made numerous attacks late in the match but Al Rayyan showed nerves of steel to hold ‘The Red Knights’ and enter their first Amir Cup final since 2018 when they were beaten by the same opposition.
