Al Khor held their nerves to beat Al Markhiya 10-9 on penalties and secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Emir Cup yesterday.
Both the teams were locked at 1-1 after regulation time in their third round match at the Abdulla bin Khalifa Stadium. The penalties that ensued saw a marathon session after both the team’s players converted their spot kicks to make it 9-9. Then it was the turn of goalkeepers to take the strike and it was Al Khor’s Khalifa Ababacar Ndiaye who emerged as the hero for his team.
Al Markhiya’s goalkeeper Mohamed Khuroob shot wide of the post and Ndiaye duly converted the next one past Khuroob to send his team to the quarter-finals. Awaiting Al Khor in the last four stage are Al Sadd, who were one of the top four QNB Stars League teams to receive a bye into the quarter-finals.
Al Markhiya, who were relegated from the QNB Stars League this season, put on a spirited fight but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Al Khor took the lead in the ninth minute courtesy Ariel Ngueukam’s header. Al Khor’s Iranian midfielder Soroush Rafiei strike was initially blocked by Khuroob but the rebound landed in front of Ngueukam, who dived to slot the header past hapless Al Markhiya goalkeeper.
Markhiya went all out for the equaliser, playing mainly on the flanks and using long balls to good effect. But they failed to find the net as Al Khor held on to the lead in the first half.
After the breather, Markhiya were given a lease of life when Saleh Bader al-Yazidi scored in the 56th minute after receiving a delightful pass from attacking midfielder Eric de Oliveira Pereira. The Brazilian’s pin-point pass sent al-Yazidi racing clear of Al Khor defence and the on-loan midfielder from Al Sadd lashed past Ndiaye.
Markhiya looked good for more but were dealt a body blow after being reduced to 10 men. Aden Ali Quilnela was sent off in 68th minute after he fouled Ndiaye in the Al Khor box.
Pereira had ran clear of Al Khor defence and picked out Quilnela in space, but the midfielder, in eagerness to score, lunged into Ndiaye, injuring him in the process to pick his second yellow card.
With a man down, Markhiya never looked like scoring and in the penalties suffered heartbreak.
In the second match of the day, Umm Salal beat Al Kharaitiyat 5-0, and will face Al Duhail in the quarter-finals.
In today’s third round matches, Mesaimeer will face Al Sailiya at 5:15pm, while Al Wakrah take on Al Arabi at 8pm. Both the matches will be played at the Grand Hamad stadium.
Second League side Mesaimeer had stunned Al Ahli 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out in the second round last week. They will be hoping to be the winning side against another QNB Stars League side Al Sailiya today.
Meanwhile, another Second Division side Al Wakrah will be on a high after they beat Qatar SC 3-2 in round two. After trailing 2-0 at one time, Wakrah staged a remarkably fightback through Prince Ibara and Hasan al-Hassan. Wakrah will rely on the two again if they have to get past Al Arabi at the latter’s home ground.
The top four teams in the QNB Stars League – Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa — will kick off their campaigns directly from the quarter-final stage of the competition.
The Emir Cup is the most prestigious domestic football tournament and brings down the curtains on the nine-month long football season in Qatar. The event offers a chance for lower division teams to test their mettle against the big guns as they bid to qualify for the final at the Khalifa Stadium on May 19.