Al-Sadd overcome El-Jaish to win their first Qatar Cup title
Al-Sadd have won its first ever Qatar Cup title after defeating El-Jaish 2-1 in the final of the 2016-17 edition, which was played on Saturday at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
This win also gives the Wolves the 66th title in the club’s history.
Baghdad Bounedjah opened the scoring for Al-Sadd in the 21st minute before Uzbek striker Sardor Rashidov equalized for El-Jaish in the 38th minute. In the 73rd minute, Jugurtha Hamroun scored Al-Sadd’s second goal, which proved to be the winner.
Exciting start, post denies Abdelkarim
The match got off to an exciting start with both teams looking to make an early mark. It was El-Jaish’s Romarinho who had the first proper chance in the 4th minute with a shot that went wide while Jugurtha Hamroun replied with an attempt that flew over the crossbar. In the 10th minute, the post denied Abdelkarim Hassan the opening goal after his shot rebounded off the woodwork with goalkeeper Khalifa Abubakar off his line.
Bounedjah scores the opener
In the 21st minute, Al-Sadd finally took the lead in the game through Algerian marksman Bounedjah; he controlled a long ball over the defence from Hassan Al-Haydos before finishing past Khalifa Abubakar to make it 1-0. Al-Sadd went on to dominate the game after the goal while El-Jaish made a couple of attempts to equalize.
Rashidov equalizes
The equalizer did come, in the 38th minute. A through ball from Yaser Abubakar caught the Al-Sadd defence unaware and Rashidov sped past them to latch on to the ball and score after rounding the keeper Saad Al-Dosari. The score was 1-1 and that was how the first half ended.
Al-Sadd up the pressure in the second half
With the start of the second half, Al-Sadd increased the pressure on the El-Jaish defence. Bounedjah had a great chance to score his second in the 48th minute when keeper Khalifa made a mistake in coming off the line, however Ali Sanad was in the right place at the right time to clear the danger. This was followed by a header from Hassan Al-Haydos which went slightly above the El-Jaish goal.
Tight fight
The match went on in a very intense and competitive manner, with attacks at either end and increase in midfield presence. Al-Sadd tried to keep the ball and pass it around but it was made difficult by the defensive coverage from El-Jaish.
Hamroun scores the second
Al-Sadd got back in the lead in the 73rd minute with Hamroun getting the goal. Bounedjah’s pass from the right was picked up by Hamroun, who smashed it past Khalifa with an unstoppable strike to make it 2-1 to the Wolves.
Al-Sadd see it out
Both teams went on the search for goals in the last few minutes. El-Jaish were desperate for an equalizer while Al-Sadd looked to put the game beyong reach with a third goal. Al-Haydos had a golden opportunity to do just that for Al-Sadd but his ball over the keeper crashed off the crossbar and was gathered easily by Khalifa. In the 87th minute, Al-Sadd made their first change of the match by bringing on Hamza Al-Sanhaji in place of Jugurtha Hamroun. The referee went on to signal for three minutes of additional time, during which Al-Sadd held on successfully to see the match out and claim the title.
MATCH DETAILS
Al-Sadd x El-Jaish (2017 Qatar Cup)
VENUE:
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium
LINEUPS:
Al-Sadd: Saad Al-Dosari, Ibrahim Majid, Morteza Pouraliganji, Hamed Ismail, Abdelkarim Hassan, Ali Asad, Pedro, Jugurtha Hamroun (Hamza Al-Sanhaji), Hassan Al-Haydos, Baghdad Bounedjah
El-Jaish: Khalifa Abubakar, Murad Naji, Yasir Abubakar, Yousef Muftah (Abdulrazaq Hamdallah), Sardor Rashidov, Mohammed Mathnani, Abdulrahman Abkar (Dame Traore), Ali Sanad, Majdi Siddiq, Seydou Keita, Romarinho
RESULT:
Al-Sadd won 2-1
GOALS:
Baghdad Bounedjah 21′
Rashidov 38′
Hamroun 73′
BOOKINGS:
Yousef Muftah 55′
Majdi Siddiq 65′
Mohammed Mathnani 70′
REFEREES:
Khamis Al-Kuwari (Main referee)
Ramzan Al-Nuaimi (Linesman)
Mohammed Dharman (Linesman)
Zahi Al-Shammari (Fourth official)
Saoud Al-Athba (Additional referee)
Abdullah Al-Athba (Additional referee)