Al Rayyan players celebrate after beating Al Arabi in the Amir Cup quarter-final, yesterday.
Doha: Al Rayyan bounced back twice to book their place in the semi-final of Amir Cup, overcoming spirited Al Arabi 4-2 on a penalty shoot-out after their thrilling quarter-final ended in a 2-2 draw at Grand Hamad Stadium, yesterday.
Also yesterday at the same venue, Al Sailiya entered the last-four stage with a 3-2 win over Al Ahli in the other quarter-final, completing the semi-final line-up of the prestigious tournament.
Al Rayyan will face QSL champions Al Sadd while Al Sailiya will meet defending champions Al Duhail in the semi-finals.
It was a match to watch as Al Rayyan survived Al Arabi scare in a thrilling quarter-final that went down to wire.
The Red Knights, who rallied throughout the match against Al Arabi, kept their nerves in the shoot-out, scoring in all of their attempts through captain Rodrigo Tabata, Myongin Koh, Gonzalo Viera and Lucca Borges.
Al Arabi’s brave performance on the field went in vain as their players looked far from being convincing in the tie-breaker, with Wilfried Guemiand and captain Ahmed Ibrahim failing to score.
Guemiand missed the target while Al Rayyan goal-keeper Fahad Younis blocked a predictable kick by Ibrahim as only Victor Vazquez and Diego Jardel could score for Al Arabi.
Al Arabi started the match with confidence at their home turf and did not take long to secure lead after they were handed a penalty-kick in the 12th minute. Guemiand was on target to score the opener for the ‘Red Devils’.
Al Rayyan responded through captain Tabata who scored from just inside the circle in the 35th minute to level the score.
A stunning Mohammad Salal header from a close range in the 71st minute took Al Arabi ahead again with not much time left for ‘The Lions’, who roared back through Gelmin Javier in the 87th minute pushing the game to shoot-out.
Earlier, Abdulqadir scored a goal and provided an assist to help Al Sailiya edge out Al Ahli to book their semi-final spot.
Al Ahli looked impressive in the first 25 minutes before Al Sailiya took control of the proceedings.
The Peregrines begun to launch back-to-back attacks and finally got the reward in 39th minute when Abdulqadir Illyas fired a field goal, beating goal-keeper Yazan Naim on his right with a fast kick. Al Sailiya doubled their lead in 64th minute, with Illyas providing an assist with a short pass inside the circle, leaving little work to be done for substitute Mohammed Rajeb, who put the ball past goalie.
Coach Sami Trabelsi’s side made it 3-0 through Fahad Youssef, who scored in 78th minute before Al Ahli attempted to fight back in the match.
Substitute Jonathan Andre produced a stunning display inside the circle beating a couple of Al Sailiya defenders, eventually clearing the ball through goal-keeper Saoud Mubarak to score first goal for Al Ahli in 82nd minute.
Andre also scored in the penultimate of injury time off a corner, making it 2-3 for Al Ahli, but there was not much time left for them as Al Sailiya walked away as the winners.
