An excellent second-half brace from the relentless Hassan al-Haydous helped Al Sadd defeat Lekhwiya in their Emir Cup semifinals and earn a berth in the final where they will face El Jaish. 

In the match that was billed as the clash of the titans, Sadd earned this year’s bragging rights by defeating the Qatar Stars League and Qatar Cup champions - Lekhwiya. This also takes Sadd one step closer to finishing this season with at least one trophy in their kitty since they finished second in the league and were knocked out of the Qatar Cup competition this season.

Lekhwiya didn’t seem to have that killer edge on Friday night, despite seeing a lot of ball they couldn’t create enough chances to trouble Sadd keeper Saad al-Sheeb. In fact he didn’t have to make a single notable save throughout the entire match.

The match, played at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, started with both teams looking inconsistent. There was a lot of scampering about but neither team was able to create anything meaningful.

It took about ten minutes for the nerves to calm and then the moves started coming from both teams. The game was played in an end to end fashion with both sides looking to get the early goal.

The first chance of the match did come early, in the 13th minute in fact when Lekhwiya’s striker Sebastian Soria got a through-ball from Ali Afif. However the naturalized Qatari couldn’t get his shot off in time which gave the keeper ample to time to position himself well for the save.

Sadd got their first real chance of the match in the 25^th minute. Lee Jung-Soo, unmarked inside the box, got a good cross from a short corner but his header was slightly wide. After this attempt Sadd enjoyed a period of strong possession which saw them create quite a few further chances.

In the 29th minute Sadd got another corner and Nadir Belhadj dutifully delivered a great cross into the box. Sadd central defender Mohamed Kasola got a free header when the ball rebounded off a defender but it was headed just over the bar.

However, just a minute later, Sadd got their best chance of the first half. From a resulting freekick, Hamza Senhaji headed the ball towards goal, this sent Lekhwiya keeper Claude Amin into a full stretch but he could only manage to push the ball onto the far post. The ball fell kindly for Almahdi Ali Mukhtar but the Sadd defender’s shot ended up hitting the bar and going out, from just five yards out!

Right at the end of the first half, Lekhwiya skipper Karim Boudiaf gave a great through pass to Ali Hassan Yahia but his first touch let him down and that allowed Al-Sheeb to come out and collect safely.

The second half kick-started into life in the 59th minute, that’s when Laudrup produced a double substitution bringing on Vladimir Weiss and Ismail Mohamed. He needed quick legs on the wings and that’s exactly what the substitutions brought to the match. However despite Lekhwiya making the changes, it was Sadd who made the breakthrough.

In the 62nd minute, Muriqui gave a pass to an unmarked Al-Haydous who fired in a low shot into the far corner which Amin had no chance of saving. Sadd now had the lead they were desperately searching for and Lekhwiya were shaken out of their stupor. They brought in Captain Luiz Martin Junior to help the midfield play but despite the substitution, it was still Sadd who were looking dangerous.

The Wolves had great chances in the 74th and 77th minute when Ali Assad twice received great through-balls but the first time he couldn’t shoot quick enough and the second time his shot went over the bar. That was a big chance missed.

Those misses however didn’t prove fateful as just five minutes later Al-Haydous scored his second goal of the match to double Sadd’s advantage. The goal came from a wonderful Haydous freekick which he took quickly and curled into the far corner. It was a ball that Lekhwiya keeper Amin should have stopped but he was probably distracted by the onrushing Abdel Karim Hassan. 

Lekhwiya tried to pile on the pressure late on but simply couldn’t find the back of the net. In the end Sadd emerged victorious. During the pre-match press conference, Sadd coach Ammouta had said that a team like Sadd always plays for titles and this was a great chance for them to win one. Now they are one step closer to that target while Lekhwiya’s dreams of a domestic treble have been shattered.