Umm Salal beat Al Ahli 2-0 at the Grand Hamad Stadium of Al Arabi club on Tuesday to move into the final of 2023-2024 season Ooredoo Cup.

Both goals for Umm Salal came in the second session of the match. While Victor Lekhal fetched the first off a header in the 56th minute, skipper Andy Delort scored the second goal in the 80th minute.

Al Ahli had more share of the ball possession (55%) and more shots on target (6) against four of Umm Salal, but they could not convert some of the close chances that came their way.

Both sides battled hard and the opening half ended on an even keel. It was also a session where Al Ahli survived a close call when, in the 21st minute, a Kenji Gorre drive just missed the far right post.

Ten minutes later, Gorre was again in front of the goal, but lost control of the ball to Al Ahli defenders.

In the 39th minute, The Brigadiers had luck to rue as Abdulrasheed Ibrahim’s kick went wide of the left post.

Another close chance for Al Ahli was in the 55th minute when Oumar Sekou was in a superb position in front of the goal but his kick was diverted by the outstretched left hand of Umm Salal goalkeeper Landing Badji.

Two minutes later, The Orange Fortress broke the deadlock following a corner kick which was superbly intercepted and headed in by the tall Lekhal. A VAR check also ruled no offside and the referee whistled for the goal.

Al Ahli made more efforts now to get the equalizer, but their hopes were further dampened as Andy Delort latched on to a fine deflection of a cross by Khaled Mansour, who was in the centre of the box, for Delort to make a successful strike into the net.

The win saw Umm Salal make it to their second successive final appearance at the Ooredoo Cup after having lost to Al Duhail in the final of 2022-2023 edition of the tournament.