El Jaish's mid-fielder Seydou Keita (left) heads the ball as a Lekhwiya player looks on during the Qatar Cup semi-final played at Al Sadd Stadium yesterday. The defending champions El Jaish reached the final of the tournament by defeating the reigning Qat
A last-minute goal from Sardor Rashidov helped defending champions El Jaish to script a fighting 3-2 win over Qatar Stars League (QSL) champions Lekhwiya and booked them a place in the Qatar Cup final here yesterday.
The Army men were at one stage comfortably placed with a 2-0 lead till the 49th minute, but Lekhwiya came back strongly to draw level.
At the end of half time play the winners led 1-0.
El Jaish went into the lead through Seydou Keita in the 24th minute, thereafter both teams did not trouble the scorers in the first half.
On resumption, El Jaish consolidated the lead four minutes into the second half, with Romarinho Silva getting past the last line of Lekhwiya defense. Lekhwiya, however made a strong bid to bounce back and were successful to pull one back in the 51st minute with Ismail Mohamad finding himself in the right place at the right time.
The QSL champions had to wait for another 26 minutes to get their second goal as Edgar Bruno struck to made it two-all. Thereafter, both the teams tried to break through the defense but without any success.
El Jaish however made the most of the opening they created in the dying minutes of the match by getting one past the Lekhwiya goalkeeper in the 90th minute.
Rashidov of El Jaish picked the man-of-the-match award for his match winning goal.
On Thursday, Al Sadd held on to secure a narrow 3-2 win over rivals Al Rayyan to secure their place in the final. The Wolves raced into a three goal lead after just 22 minutes.
Al Rayyan’s Koh Myong-jin and Sergio Garcia scored a spectacular goal to set up a close finish, however Al Sadd held out to secure their place in the April 29 final.
