Al Wakrah secured their semifinal berth after beating Al Ahli 3-1 in an exciting quarterfinal of the 2024-2025 season QSL Cup at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium of Al Duhail club on Friday.

Ayoub Assal (35th minute), Farid Boulaya (45+3 minute) and Ricardo Gomes (80th minute) scored for The Blue Wave, while Erik Exposito scored The Brigadiers’ only goal in the 37th minute.

The two sides were evenly matched and nothing much seemed to be the difference between them by the way of attack and defence for most of the early minutes of the high-pressing match.

Al Ahli came very close to scoring the opening goal in the 12th minute when Driss Fettouhi rattled the crossbar with his powerful free-kick, while Oumar Sekou missed a great opportunity to put The Brigadiers ahead in the 19th minute after missing an obvious sitter, shooting wide, from a perfect set-up by Bahaa Ellethy.

After a series of back and forth from both sides, Assal gave Al Wakrah the lead in the 35th minute, skirting away past three Al Ahli defenders before unleashing a powerful right-footed shot that located the top right-hand corner of the goal.

The lead only lasted two minutes as Al Ahli got parity restored through Exposito, who brilliantly nodded home a corner kick.

With the match appearing to head for a stalemated first half, Boulaya got Al Wakrah’s lead back with the last kick of the half, riffling home from 30 yards out with a thunderous shot that goalkeeper Yazan Naim’s outstretched hand could not manage to touch.

Al Ahli thought they got the equalizer in the 58th minute through Fettouhi, but the goal was ruled offside, to the disappointment of the Al Ahli players, who protested the decision but to no effect.

Gomes made it three for Al Wakrah in the 80th minute after getting on the end of a through pass by Khalid Muneer, who took advantage of a midfield error by Al Ahli to give an inch-perfect pass to the Cape Verdean international to consolidate their lead.

Despite a relentless late-minute drive from Al Ahli, the situation, however, remained the same as Al Wakrah maintained their lead.