Al Ahli edged Al Rayyan 3-2 yesterday to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the QSL Cup. The crucial fifth round Group A win at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, saw Al Ahli emerge as one of the top four teams from the group.
Al Ahli and Al Rayyan both finished the group stage with 7 points apiece. Leaders Al Duhail and second-placed Al Arabi ended with 10 points each while Qatar SC (3) and Al Shahania (3) missed the bus.
Erik Exposito (11th minute-penalty), Mohamed Abdelkader (66th minute), and Matej Mitrovic (75th minute) scored the goals for Al Ahli, while for Al Rayyan - Tameem al-Abdulla (24th minute) and Abdulrahman al-Harazi (37th minute) were on target.
Al Ahli hit back soon after Tabata’s first attempt and when on charge Expositio was felled just inside the box by a back leg tangle of Al Rayyan’s Hussain Ali Bahzad. The referee immediately called for a penalty and Exposito struck coolly with his left-footed shot finding the left corner. Al Rayyan soon equalised with Tameem al-Abdulla seizing on a rebound off Al Ahli’s goalkeeper Yazan Naim’s chest after Tameem Al Abdulla had sized up a long drive.
The Lions then went up the lead as Al Harazi made the most of a golden pass from Khaled Ali Binsabaa as he broke past a parallel defence line to score (2-1).
In the second session, Al Ahli kept attacking and the young Younes Hussein Abdelrahman was the pivot creating some fine opening inside the rival danger zone.
Their efforts bore fruits a little after an hour when an Expositio strike was punched away by Al Rayyan goalkeeper Samy Beldi but the ball went to Mohamed Abdelkader who did the needful to make the scores 2-2.
Nine minutes later, Al Ahli got their most important winning goal as Mitrovic deflected in a fine corner kick from Younes Hussein (3-2).
In the 80th minute, Al Rayyan had another shy at the rival goal as Tabata made a strike which was pushed out by the goalkeeper but the ball was still in play and alert defenders of The Brigadiers cleared it away.
In the other matches, table toppers Al Duhail were held 1-1 by Al Shahania at the Grand Hamad Stadium while Qatar SC and Al Arabi played out a goalless draw at the Al Khor Stadium. Ahmed El Sayed has put the Red Knights in front in the 26th minute but Pelle van Amersfoort got the equalizer for Al Shahania in 90+6 minute.
Al Rayyan and Al Ahli players vie for the ball.
