ALL FOR THE BALL: Al Rayyan’s Jarallah Ali al-Mari and Hassan Mohamed Ahmad battle for the ball during the semifinal match at Al Sadd Stadium
By Suman Malla/Doha

Al Rayyan set up a mouth-watering showdown with Al Gharafa in the Emir’s Cup final after a 5-0 rout of Al Jaish in the second semi-final yesterday at the Sheikh Jassim stadium. Al Jaish, who had a nine-match unbeaten run coming into yesterday’s semi-final match, were flattered to deceive as defending champions Al Rayyan produced a clinical display of attacking football.
Brazilian midfielder Rodrigo Tabata opened the Al Rayyan account in the 11th minute and assisted captain Younis Ali to make it 2-0 a minute before the hour mark. Abdulrahman Tariq virtually sealed the match for Paulo Autuori’s side netting their third in the 72nd minute before Mohammed Saleh came on to add two more in the last eight minutes to complete the rout.
Al Rayyan looked lively from the onset as Tabata and Fabio Cesar pulled the strings from the middle, constantly threatening the Al Jaish defence.

TRYING HARD: Al Rayyan player Fabio Cesar (left) vying for the ball against Abdulqader Elyass of Jaish during their semifinal match at Al Sadd Stadium. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil
Al Rayyan took a lead in the 11th minute with make a quick and incisive break. South Korean defender Yong-Hyung Cho picked out Fahad al-Bloushi on the right side of Al Jaish area. The striker squared the ball into the box where Al Jaish’s Osman Mohammed failed to intercept it and Tabata tapped in for a 1-0 lead. 
Paulo Autuori’s men maintained the pressure and a minute later they had another chance in the form of a free-kick. But Tabata failed to keep his shot low from 20 yards. 
Although Al Jaish showed occasional pace in wide areas, there was little cohesion in their attacking play.
In the 21st minute, Fabio Cesar almost gave Al Rayyan a 2-0 half-time but the midfielder, closely checked by a defender, lost his footing at the vital moment after dribbling his way into a shooting position.
Cesar went close to scoring again in the 42nd minute but Al Jaish goalkeeper came up with a brilliant save to parry away his free-kick from 20 yards. And Jarallah al-Marri wasted another chance for Al Rayyan two minutes from half time.
As if made painfully aware of the lack of passion in their first half performance, Al Jaish returned began the second with more purpose. Despite not creating any clear chances, they began to play more of their football in the Al Rayyan half.
Abdulqader Elyass, tournament’s leading scorer on four goals, did his best to pull Al Jaish into the game but his attempts came to nothing in front of the tight Al Rayyan defence.
As they poured men forward in desperate search for goals, Al Jaish left their defence ajar. And Al Rayyan wasted no time, punishing them on each occasion.
After wasting a chance in the 52nd minute, al-Marri made no mistake in the 59th minute. It came in similar fashion as that of the first goal as Yong-Hyung found Tabata with a swift pass on the break. Tabata’s cross field pass picked out al-Marri, who fired a low shot from the edge of the area to make it 2-0.
It was Al Rayyan all the way thereafter, as Al Jaish failed to keep up the pace with their more accomplished rivals.
In the 72nd minute, Tariq, coming on for al-Baloushi, gave Al Rayyan a commanding 3-0 lead. He beat the advancing Al Jaish custodian with a first touch on Cesar’s long pass and finished it off with a side-footing.
Three minutes on, Al Jaish had their best scoring chance but Abdulrahman Abaker’s header on a teasing cross crashed against the post.
But Al Rayyan held the momentum with Autouri opting for more fresh pairs of legs. And his decision bore fruit as Saleh, who replaced Hamed Ismail, put them 4-0 up in the 83rd minute from a neat pass from Tariq. And in the injury time, he netted his second goal of the night to end Al Jaish’s misery.