Sadd, Duhail scrape through to semis

Al Sadd and Al Duhail were made to sweat hard before the two Qatari giants sealed their place in the Amir Cup semi-finals yesterday. QNB Stars League champions Sadd were cruising 3-0 in their quarter-finals but Al Gharafa made it interesting with two quick goals. Baghdad Bounedjah, however, put the game to bed in the 90th minute with his second goal of the match as Sadd won 4-2 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Earlier, defending champions Duhail beat a stubborn Al Shahania 2-0. It was a far from convincing performance from Duhail as they were frustrated in the first half. Shahania also missed a penalty with Duhail goalkeeper Amin Lecomte diving to his left to save Mostafa Jafri’s low shot.
And Youssef El Arabi made them pay for it as he scored Duhail’s opener in the 59th minute, though Nakajima Shoya should get all the plaudits for the goal. Shoya exchanged passes with Almoez Ali as the Japanese midfielder found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat. But Shoya unselfishly passed the ball to unmarked El Arabi, who just had to tap it into an open goal.
While Shahania pressed for the equaliser they came close when Luciano Vasquez’s free kick was cleared by Lecomte. In the quick counter, Edmilson scored Duhail’s second in the 79th minute with Shahania’s players’ spirits broken after that. Moroccan Mehdi Benatia played a through ball to Edmilson, who took forever to strike the ball. But when he did, Edmilson found the net with a powerful right-footer as Amer Ahmad looked on helplessly.
In the semi-finals, Duhail will take on the winner of today’s quarter-final between Al Ahli and Al Sailiya. Duhail coach Rui Faria was satisfied with his player’s performance, despite them not being at their best. “It was important for us to achieve this victory and move on to the semi-finals. Now we can start preparing for the AFC Champions League,” he said.
“Today we changed our style of play so it took some time for the players to click. But the end result is all that matters and happy we have reached the semis,” Faria added.
The Portuguese manager praised Shahania for putting up a good fight. “Shahania are a good team. They are well organised and have a good coach, who made defensive plans to repel our attacks and relied on counter-attacks. We could not control the match well. It was difficult in the first half. In the second half we controlled the match and were effective in the midfield, which enabled us to score,” he said.
 Faria accepted his team has much to improve and vowed to make them better. “I do not make any excuses and football is a game that does not accept excuses. When I came to Al Duhail, the players were different. The team is still moving forward and we have to make more efforts until the team reaches the level we want. This process takes time and it cannot happen overnight.
“We have lost the league but now we have to plan for the future and I hope that we can achieve what we want and I cannot promise anything but to work with the players and prepare well for future matches,” Faria said.
Meanwhile, Sadd were in cruise control as they led 2-0 before Gharafa gave them a scare. Boualem Khoukhi put Sadd ahead heading an Akram Afif cross. Gharafa were quick to respond with some counter attacks but Ahmed Alaaeldin and Mehdi Taremi failed find the target.
And Sadd seized on a wasteful Gharafa, when prolific striker Bounedjah scored with a delightful chip after Hassan al-Haydous found him with a through ball. Taremi and Amro Seraj brought Gharafa back into the contest in the second half. But Bounedjah scored the winner in added time, tapping Afif’s cross into an empty net as the duo celebrated the win with a cheeky dance. Sadd will wait for the winner of the match between Al Arabi and Al Rayyan, who will lock horns in the quarter-finals today.