Lekhwiya were the in-form team coming into the match, while Al Rayyan were coming off a nail-biting loss. But it was Al Rayyan who produced a strong second-half performance to defeat Lekhwiya 3-1 in the first semi-final of the 2017 Emir Cup. A brace from Rodrigo Tabata and a Musaab Khodor strike helped the Lions down the Red Knights.
The match held yesterday at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium was predicted to be a tough affair between these two football giants in Qatar. Lekhiwya, flying high after having progressed to the AFC Champions League Round of 16, didn’t start with the regular eleven. But despite that, they were a dominant force in the first half. They had a couple of chances but couldn’t convert them. Al Rayyan were competitive but weren’t able to trouble the Lekhiwya defence too much.
But all of that changed in the second half. There were a host of changes at the break. Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belamdi brought on key striker Youssef Msakni for Abdelrahaman Mohamed. He also replaced Assim Madibo with Luiz Martin in the midfield to ensure more attacks.
And right at the start of the second half, Msakni came close to opening the scoring but his shot was saved by the Al Rayyan goalkeeper Omar Barri.
It was time for more tactical changes as Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup brought on Sergio Garcia in place of Abdulrahman al-Harzy and Belmadi replaced Ali Afif with his midfield star Nam Tae-Hee. The match turned out to be livelier after that.
In the 61st minute Tabata let loose a curler that missed the post by inches. Lekhwiya goalkeeper Qasem Burhan wouldn’t have been able to stop it. Then four minutes later the Al Rayyan skipper turned provider, probably unintentionally. Clever link-up play saw Sebastian Soria pass the ball to Tabata who nutmegged Ahmed Yasser and was planning to run around him but Musaab Khodor was in the right place, at the right time and he slotted the ball into the goal.
Al Rayyan had a lead which had looked unlikely considering the early passage of play.
Lekhwiya continued mounting attacks and were finally rewarded in the 78th minute when Msakni got to the end of a clever pass from Nam Tae-hee and scored the equaliser.
But two minutes later, Al Rayyan wrestled back the lead, thanks to the individual brilliance of Tabata. Mohamed Tresor fouled Ahmed Alaaeldin and the referee gave a free-kick right at the edge of the box. Tabata stepped up and curled the ball past the outside of the ball to deposit the ball in the far corner of the goal, past Burhan at full stretch.
Tabata is known for his brilliant free-kicks and he delivered once more. The positioning of the Lekhwiya wall seemed incorrect though.  
Lekhwiya tried to hit back and didn’t give up. They were enjoying a fair bit of possession in the Al Rayyan half but couldn’t find the back of the net. Instead, as they were searching for the equalizer, it was Tabata who scored his second goal of the match.
In the 91st minute, a counter-attack from Al Rayyan saw Garcia cross the ball for Tabata and the Qatar player chipped the ball over Burhan to seal the victory for his team.
Lekhwiya’s dream of a domestic treble has been ended by Rayyan. They now have the Asian Champions League to attend to. For Al Rayyan, they are now in the final of the Emir Cup and one match away from winning a trophy this season.
Al Rayyan fans, who had as usual turned up in large numbers to support their team yesterday, will be happy with their team’s performance.