Tabata vies for the ball during yesterday’s Semi-final.
Doha: Former champions Al Rayyan rode on a brilliant double by star midfielder and captain Rodrigo Tabata (2 and 88) and a second-half strike by South Korean import Koh Myong-Jin (47) to crush Al Gharafa 3-0 to reach the Amir Cup final yesterday.
In the final to be played on May 19 at the Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan will take on unbeaten QSL Champions Al Duhail in what will be the final football match this season.
Tabata, the former Qatar national team player, was declared the Man-of-the-Match for his two goals.
At the Al Sadd Stadium yesterday, captain Tabata intercepted an excellent cross by veteran striker Sebastian Soria and powered it past goalkeeper Qasem Burhan to score his 18th goal of the season just two minutes after the kick-off.
Midfielder Daniel Goumou almost doubled Al Rayyan’s lead two minutes later when he shot from just outside the penalty arc after avoiding two Al Gharafa players, but Bhuran succeeded this time as he managed to push the ball over the cross bar.
Bhuran went on to prevent several other attempts over the course of the first half as Al Rayyan - coached by Michael Laudrup - retained their 1-0 cushion when the referee blew the whistle for the half-time break.
Al Rayyan made it 2-0 in the 47th minute when midfielder Myong-Jin cleverly directed the ball into the net over the goalkeeper’s head from outside of the box after receiving a long pass from Soria who was at the other end of the pitch.
The Tabata-Soria combination reaped big benefits to Al Rayyan again when the two of them dribbled and exchanged passes before the 37-year old completed his brace in the 88th minute.
Al Gharafa were trying hard to open scoring but their popular stars Wesley Sneijder and Ahmed Alaaeldin missed the net on multiple occasions. The two failed to live up to expectations as Laudrup’s men marched into the final with a 3-0 win.
Al Rayyan, who lost last year’s Amir Cup final to Al Sadd, will now take on Al Duhail in next Saturday’s title clash but yesterday’s game was the end of the road for the season for Al Gharafa.
On Friday, Al Duhail were powered home by a brilliant goal by Almoez Ali against 10-man Al Sadd.
Coach Djamel Belmadi’s men are eyeing their third title after enjoying the silverware in the QNB Stars League as well as Qatar Cup, while Al Rayyan will seek their seventh Amir Cup trophy.
