Al Sadd’s Iraqi import Younis Mahmood vies for the ball with Mostafa Modi of Umm Salal during their Emir Cup quarter-finals at Al Arabi Stadium in Doha yesterday. Al Sadd won 1-0. RIGHT: Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Tabata (red jersey) runs with the ball as Al Khor’s Mostafa Jalal looks on during their Emir Cup quarter-final clash at Al Sadd Stadium in Doha yesterday. Al Rayyan won 4-1.
DOHA: Qatar Stars League (QSL) champions Al Sadd yesterday edged past Umm Salal 1-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Emir Cup.
Striker Khalfan Ibrahim scored late in the second half (81) as QSL champions remained on course for their second successive major football final inside two weeks.
Al Sadd will get a chance to take revenge for their Heir Apparent Cup final loss against Lekhwiya on Saturday.
Yesterday, Lekhwiya hammered Al Gharafa 4-2 at Al Arabi Stadium.
Goals by Issiar Dia (14 and 30) and Sebastian Soria (76 and 90 + 4) sealed the deal for the Heir Apparent Cup champions.
For Al Gharafa, the two goals were scored by Djibril Cisse (1) and Alex Raphael Meschini (56).
In another clash yesterday, four-star Al Rayyan crushed Al Khor 4-1 to seal their berth in the semi-finals of the country’s most popular football tournament.
Fabio Cesar scored twice (71 and 73) while Alvaro Fernandez (78) and Rodrigo Tabata (83) fired a goal apiece to guide Al Rayyan to their commanding win.
Bruno Soares scored the only goal for Al Khor in the 76th minute.
In the semi-finals, Al Rayyan will now meet Eljaish who yesterday edged past Qatar SC 1-0.
The only goal of the match was scored by Abdul Kadir Alias in the 26th minute.
The two semi-finals will be played on May 11 at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
The all-important title clash will take place at Khalifa International Stadium on May 18.
Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre said: “We are very happy with this win. I consider Al Khor to be one of the strongest teams this season. In the first half, my players didn’t play very well because they were nervous. However, when we encouraged them and they scored the first goal, that’s when they lifted their game and improved their performance. We will start preparing for the next match tomorrow.”
Al Khor coach Laszlo Boloni said at a press conference: “In the first 20 minutes, the players were tired because they played many matches in a short time in the last period. However, their performance improved as the match went on.”
He added: “Al Rayyan is a strong and tough team, and Al Khor players were a little doubtful of their capability because they see Al Rayyan as a team that dominates on the pitch.”
He added: “We have to forget this match; we have a lot of time to prepare the players and to prepare for the Al Kharaitiyat match in the Gulf Cup. We have an advantage over Al Kharaitiyat because we won 1-0 in the last match we played against them.”
THE PENINSULA
