DOHA: Captain Rodrigo Tabata led from front with a strike and an assist while seasoned forwards Sebastian Soria and Sergio Garcia scored a goal each as QSL champions Al Rayyan stormed into the Emir Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 thrashing over Al Kharaitiyat.
Al Rayyan’s dominating performance ensured the QSL champions emerged convincing winners in the day’s first quarter-final at Al Arabi Stadium.
On a historic day when Leicester City were crowned the English Premier League champions from 5000-1 odds, favourites Al Rayyan ensured victory over underdogs Al Kharaitiyat who displayed a brave show in the first half.
Although, the Jorge Fossati’s side dominated the match from the beginning, Amar Osim’s Al Kharaitiyat proved they are a force to be reckoned on various occasions in the opening session.
Al Rayyan created a lot of chances in the first 25 minutes but they lacked proper execution that kept them away from an early lead.
On the other hand, Al Kharaitiyat put up a good defensive performance to keep the overwhelming strikers from the opposition quite though Domingos was yellow-carded in the 18th minute.
Soria almost scored the opener for Al Rayyan but his impressive header from a cross just missed the target by a couple of inches. While, Al Rayyan continued attacking approach, Al Kharaitiyat relied on counter attacks and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions.
It seemed it was a part of their strategy as Al Kharaitiyat fired up after 35 minutes and took their opponents under pressure. Moussa Haroon found the target but as Al Kharaitiyat were about to start celebration, referee raised the off-side flag, in the 44th minute.
Al Rayyan took the attack as a wake-up call and bounced back in the game immediately with Tabata making a clinical finish to the counter attack to gave his side a much-needed breakthrough.
Tabata’s 22nd goal of the season took his side to the final session with a 1-0 cushion.
It was completely a different story in the second half as the QSL champions took total control to which Al Khairatiyat had no answers.
Garcia scored second goal for Al Rayyan on a perfect kick from outside the circle in the 52nd minute.
Soria took things beyond Al Khairatiyat’s reach when he made no mistake on a long pass from his captain, 11 minutes after Garcia’s strike.
Al Khairatiyat looked for the fightback but their attacks were not good enough to pose danger for Fossati’s team which sealed a comfortable victory in the end.
The Peninsula
