Doha: Eljaish booked their place in the Qatar Stars Cup final with a hard-fought win over Lekhwiya.
Razvan Lucescu’s side needed 120 minutes to join Al Arabi in Sunday’s final after the match finished goalless following the regulation 90 minutes.
But a 104th minute strike from Eljaish captain Anderson made sure of victory as Eljaish gave themselves the possibility of winning silverware on Sunday.
Lucescu and his players will be thrilled with the evening’s work but in truth this was a match that never really got going.
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm and chances were few and far between for the entire match.
Nam Tee-He went close with a free-kick which bounced inches wide of the post after 25 minutes. It was the first real chance of a game that had started very low-key.
The next best chance came when Karim Ziani forced a fingertip save from Likomt Klud Amin with a terrific shot from 25 yards.
Three minutes into the second half Ziani again threatened but after bursting into the box, his cross was clawed away by Ahmad Mohd Abel Maksoud.
With 52 minutes gone Simon Dia wasted a great chance to open the scoring but his shot from just inside the box was easily held by Zeab Hassan Alinabi.
Seu Lke Ko thought he had won the match with his low drive from the edge of the box but his shot was deflected and flew wide.
Adil Ahmed Mohamed went even closer right on the 90 minute mark with a ferocious drive that dipped and swerved before cracking the base of the post. It was a real let off for Eljaish and the last real chance of the game in regulation time.
The deadlock was finally broken right at the end of the first period of extra-time. Jaish captain Anderson collected a deep cross and smashed a shot into the back of the net.
That was enough to set up Sunday’s final showdown with Al Arabi, who defeated Al Gharafa 24 hours earlier.
The Peninsula
