Al-Sadd reach Qatar Cup final after shootout win over Al-Rayyan

Al-Sadd reached the Qatar Cup final for the second year in a row after defeating Al-Rayyan 4-2 on penalties, following a 2-2 draw in normal time, in their semifinal clash on Saturday.

Akram Afif opened the scoring for Al-Sadd in the 21st minute before Hamid Ismail doubled the advantage seven minutes later. Mouhcine Motouali scored for Al-Rayyan in the 43rd minute and Rodrigo Tabata then made it 2-2 with his goal in the 81st minute.

The game then headed to penalties, during which Al-Sadd converted all their kicks while Sebastian Soria and Tabata missed for Al-Rayyan, giving the Wolves the victory.

After an intense start to the game, Al-Sadd took the lead through Afif who finished off Xavi’s pass with aplomb in the 21st minute. The Wolves weren’t satisfied with just one goal and duly doubled their lead seven minutes later, when Hamid Ismail scored. The full-back picked up an aerial pass from the defence and dribbled through the right wing before getting into the box and netting through the legs of Al-Rayyan keeper Omar Barry.

Al-Rayyan’s reply came at the stroke of halftime, when Mouhcine Motouali received Sebastian Soria’s pass and escaped his marker to finish past Saad Al-Dosari to make it 2-1 going into the break.

In the second half, Al-Rayyan emerged stronger and had the ball in the net in the 68th minute following Tabata’s header but the referee ruled it out for offside after consulting the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). However, Tabata did get a goal and it came in the 81st minute, when he equalised by finishing off a cross from Mohammed Alaa.

Going into the last few minutes of normal time, Al-Sadd brought on Jugurtha Hamroun in place of Xavi to energize the attack but no late winner materialized even after five minutes of injury time.

The game then headed into penalties, without going into extra time. Sebastian Soria took the first kick for Al-Rayyan and missed, after which both teams converted their kicks until Tabata’s turn came in the fourth round. The Al-Rayyan captain sent his effort over the bar, leaving Baghdad Bounedjah to score with the next kick to send Al-Sadd to the final.

MATCH DETAILS

Al-Sadd x Al-Rayyan (Qatar Cup 2018 semifinal)

Venue:

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium

Lineups:

Al-Sadd: Saad Al-Dosari, Abdelkarim Hassan, Hamid Ismail, Morteza Pouraliganji, Pedro Miguel, Salem Al-Hajri (Yasser Abubakar), Khoukhi Boualem, Xavi, Hassan Al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Bagdhad Bounedjah

Al-Rayyan: Omar Barry, Mohammed Alaa, Ahmed Yasser, Hussam Kamal (Ahmed Abdulmaqsood), Rodrigo Tabata, Mouhcine Motouali, Gonzalo Viera, Mohammed Jumua, Koh Myong Jin, Sebastian Soria, Daniel Gomou

Result:

2-2 draw in normal time, Al-Sadd won 4-2 on penalties

Goals:

Akram Afif 21′

Hamid Ismail 28′

Mouhcine Motouali 43′

Rodrigo Tabata 81′

Referees:

Salman Falahi (Main referee)

Ramzan Al-Nuaimi (Linesman)

Saoud Ahmed (Linesman)

Nayef Al-Qaderi (Fourth official)

Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (VAR)

Khamis Al-Kuwari (Additional referee)

Zahi Al-Shammari (Additional referee)