True to expectations, the semifinals of Qatar Cup turned out to be exciting encounters. Al Sadd edged Al Rayyan 6-4 on penalties after they were tied 2-2 in regular time on Saturday, while Al Duhail registered a convincing 6-1 win over Al Gharafa in the other last-four clash on Sunday. Both matches kicked off at 19:00 at the Al Sadd Stadium, where the final is also scheduled to be played.

The first match saw Al Rayyan stage a good comeback after being down by two goals. They levelled the score at full time, but bowed out on penalties.

Hassan Al Haydous, Boualem Khoukhi, Jugurtha Hamroun and Baghdad Bounedjah converted from the spot for Al Sadd, while only Koh Myong-Gin and Gonzalo Viera were on target for Al Rayyan. Sebastian Soria and Rodrigo Tabata missed the target.

Earlier, Akram Afif and Hamed Ismail had put Al Sadd ahead before Mohsine Moutaouali and Tabata helped Al Rayyan draw parity.

Al Sadd were on the front foot right from the beginning and were rewarded with two goals before the breather. However, it was a different Al Rayyan in the second half and they pulled off two goals.

Once man-of-the-match Moutaouali reduced the margin, The Lions grew in confidence even though they were without injured Abderrazaq Hamdallah, who had been ruled out for the rest of the season. The Moroccan striker was the third-best scorer in the just-concluded QNB Stars League with 18 goals, behind Al Duhail’s Youssef El Arabi (26) and his captain Youssef Msakni (25).

In hindsight, Al Rayyan may rue that two of their experienced players (Soria and Tabata) skied their shots in the tie-breaker when it mattered the most. Nevertheless, Tabata played the captain’s role to perfection.

Meanwhile, Al Gharafa, who qualified for the semifinals after a tough battle with Umm Salal, succeeded in holding off newly-crowned QNB Stars League champions Al Duhail goalless in the first half. However, The Cheetahs imploded in the second once Murad Naji opened the floodgates in the 47th minute.

Nam Tae-Hee contributed a hat-trick, with Ismail Mohamad and El Arabi also getting into the scoring act.

Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi’s stoppage-time goal was too little a consolation for Al Gharafa, who had nothing much going their way once the second session started.

Dutch star Wesley Sneijder and Portuguese midfielder Diogo Amado fought a losing cause for Al Gharafa, while Al Duhail players got going after finding their feet.