Despite struggling with their form and confidence of late, Al Rayyan stayed on course for a domestic double with a hard-fought 3-0 win over Al Kharaitiyat in the quarter-finals of the Emir Cup yesterday.
Ever since they won the Qatar Stars League with five games to spare, they have been on a downward spiral, losing match after match and failing to reach the Qatar Cup final in which El Jaish beat Lekhwiya to clinch the title.
But missing a potential triple crown seems to have hurt them badly and they responded with grit and determination by prevailing over Al Kharaitiyat with goals from their star trio of Rodrigo Tabata, Sergio Garcia and Sebastian Soria.
The initial exchanges were scrappy to say the least with both teams failing to string together a meaningful move.
Al Rayyan particularly had trouble controlling the ball, with the result that they couldn’t capitalise on several chances that came their way.
With just a couple of minutes to go before half-time, Al Kharaitiyat caused a few flutters when they managed to find the net off a free-kick, but the linesman had raised his flag signalling off-side before the shot was taken.
While Al Kharaitiyat appeared stunned at the decision, Al Rayyan were already up and away on the attack and went ahead through a fine goal by the Brazil-born Tabata in the 45th minute.
A throw-in found Soria and the Uuguguay-born Qatar striker coolly chipped the ball for Tabata, who chested it down and fired past Al Kharaitiyat goalkeeper Ahmed Sufyan.
The tempo of the match picked up after the first half and former Zaragoza and Espanyol player Garcia consolidated for Al Rayyan with a fine shot from outside the penalty area in the 52nd minute after the Al Kharaitiyat defence had left him unattended.
Al Rayyan, who enjoyed 61 percent ball possession delivered the killer blow in the 63rd minute when Soria latched on to a long pass and dribbled past the Al Kharaitiyat defence for a fine finish to seal the outcome of the match.
“A 3-0 win is a fine result although we could have scored more with some luck,” Al Rayyan coach Jorge Fossati said after the match.
“After our recent run of poor performances we were determined to showcase our true potential,” the Uruguayan added.
 Al Kharaitiyat coach Amar Osim was disappointed by his team’s loss but gave Al Rayyan credit. “We had our chances but Al Rayyan were too good on the day,” he said. “Now the season is over for us and we can only hope to do better next season,” he added.
In the second quarter-final of the day, Al Sadd survived a late fright from Al Gharafa for a thrilling 3-2 victory.
Al Sadd, who are trophy-less this season were 1-0 up by the ninth minute when Baghdad Bounedjah struck with a powerful header off a Xavi free-kick.
Hasan al-Haydos helped Jesualdo Ferreira’s side consolidate with a thundering free-kick from just outside the area in the 39th minute, but Mustafa Abdi pulled one back two minutes later with a well-directed header off a corner-kick.
Al Gharafa pressed for the equaliser but a couple of close calls later it was Al Sadd who managed to find the target with Bounedjah scoring his second goal of the match, slipping the ball into the net following a fine pass by Nadir Belhadj in the 64th minute.
An although former Al Sadd stalwart Vladimir Weiss struck for his new team in the 75th minute, dribbling past the defence to score Gharafa’s second goal, the Wolves held on to their advantage to book their semi-final spot.
Today, Al Sailiya play Lekhwiya at 6.30pm while Al Ahli meet El Jaish. Both matches will be played at the Lekhwiya’s Abdulla bin Khalifa Stadium.