Al Duhail edge Al Sadd to enter Amir Cup final

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system came back to haunt Al Sadd once again as they suffered a 0-1 loss to Al Duhail in the Amir Cup semi-final yesterday.
In the Qatar Cup final loss last month, Sadd were at the receiving end of VAR, when the referee struck to his contentious decision to award a penalty to Duhail.
Last night at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, it was the other way around for Al Sadd as a penalty decision was overturned for them and then they were reduced to 10 men after Abdelkareem Hassan was sent off at the stroke of half-time. Both the decisions came through VAR, where the referee looks at the monitor placed near the pitch side to review his initial call.
To pile on the misery for Al Sadd, Almoez Ali struck the match’s only goal in the 68th minute to send Duhail into the final, which will be held at the Khalifa International Stadium on May 19.
Djamel Belmadi’s side, unbeaten so far in the season, are on the course for a historic treble to add their QNB Stars League and Qatar Cup trophies.
They were deserving winners on the night too, as Al Sadd despite controversial VAR decisions, wasted opportunities and looked ragged in the second-half.
Both the sides were coming off AFC Champions League victories. While Al Sadd had beaten Saudi’s Al Ahli on Monday, Duhail had outplayed Al Ain on Tuesday and had one day less to recover.
With the return leg of Champions League to be played next week, Sadd and Duhail did not go in with a full strength. Sadd’s Spanish midfield star Xavi Hernandez and Hamroun Jugurtha were on the bench, while striker Baghdad Bounedjah watched from the stands as the Algerian was serving his second suspension which he received for showing dissent during the Qatar Cup final. For Duhail, Karim Bouaif, Ismail Mohamed and Murad Naji were on the bench.
Sadd started on a bright note and almost went ahead in the 12th minute only for Hamid Ismail’s curling shot from the right to strike the post. Duhail also had the same fortune as Mohamed Muntari’s header hit the top bar.
As the intensity of the game went up a notch, Sadd were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute. Referee Salman Falahi signalled for a spot-kick as he ruled Duhail defender Dami Traore had brought down Sadd captain Hassan al-Haydous in the box. But upon a review, Falahi rightly changed his decision, with the replays showing Traore had got to the ball first even as al-Haydous went down tamely.
In the 33rd minute, al-Haydous had a chance to put his team in front. The midfielder after playing 1-2 with Akram Afif hit straight to keeper Amine Lecomte. On the other end, Almoez Ali’s left-footer just missed the target.
As the half-time approached, the match’s turning point arrived too. After initially not making a decision on Abdulkarim’s foul on Mohamed Moosa, the referee, upon watching the replays, showed a direct red card for a dangerous tackle.  Sadd players protested in vain even as coach Jesualdo Ferreira was seething in anger on the touchline.
Despite being a man down, Sadd started the second-half positively. Boualem Khoukhi had a chance for equaliser but the forward failed to connect a volley.
Even as South Korean playmaker Nam Tae-hee pulled the strings for Duhail, Belmadi introduced QNB Stars League top-scorer Youssef El Arabi in place of Muntari.
The decisive goal came in the 68th minute after Morteza Mohammed’s pass was intercepted in the midfield and Duhail launched a counter-attack.
Tae-hee received the ball from the half-line and sped towards the box and expertly played a through ball to Ismael on the right, who then picked out incoming Almoez as the striker pounced on the ball to hit the target from four yards.
Duhail came close again through Luiz Martin, but the captain hit the post. The impressive Tae-hee troubled the Sadd defence whole evening as he showed little fatigue from his man-of-the-match performance against Al Ain on Tuesday.
The South Korean was the standout player for Duhail again as hit the post twice and also drew a save from Sadd goalkeeper Sadd al-Dosari.
Post-match, Sadd coach Ferreira was frustrated with the result. The Portuguese was not happy with the decisions on Abdelkareem’s being sent off and a penalty being overturned.
“If we did not have the VAR  then we would not have a red card for that foul. We would also have a penalty kick for al-Haydous,” he said.
Ferreira also pointed out that Abdelkareem’s foul only warranted a yellow card.
“It is a very sad result for us. And it is because of two controversial decisions. This is happening to us for the second consecutive against Duhail and we are very unfortunate,” he said.
“The referee has to take decision for what he saw and not because of the pressure from the players. The Qatari referees are good, but the pressure from players affects them. They must be free to make decisions on their own,” he said.