Al Sailiya and Al Wakrah entered the semi-finals of the Ooredoo Cup yesterday after both needed penalty shootout victories. Wakrah beat Al Kharaitiyat 4-3 on penalties after their quarter-final match ended 1-1 in regulation time at Al Arabi Stadium.
In the second last eight clash, Sailiya got past last season’s runner-up Arabi in shootout 5-4, after both teams had finished 2-2 at full time.  Abdulaziz al-Ansari (24th minute) and Ibrahim Nasser Kalla (33rd minute) scored for Al Arabi, but late strikes from Ahmed Hamoudan (78th minute) and Abdulqadir Ilyas (86th minute) pushed the game to penalties. In the tie-breaker, Tiago Bezerra, Ilyas, Serigne Mbodji and Majdi Siddiq scored for Al Sailiya, while Fahad Waad’s shot was blocked by Al Arabi goalkeeper Sataa al-Abbasi.
For Arabi, Hamdi Harbaoui, Marc Martinez, Gaser Yahia and Sebastian Soria converted from the spot, whereas Ahmed Abotrika was off-target), thus forcing the sudden death.
After Sailiya’s Abdulla al-Marri found the target, Arabi’s Mohamed Bader Sayyar’s shot was blocked by Sailiya goalkeeper Amine Lecomte with his leg, signalling a famous victory for The Peregrines.
Earlier, Mohamed Benyettou put Wakrah ahead in the ninth minute, but Daniel Goumou equalised for Kharaitiyat in the 71st minute. With a 1-1 scoreline, the match was straightaway pushed to the tie-breaker, as stipulated by the tournament rule in the event of a tie, without extra time.
Kharaitiyat’s Oumar Sako and Abdulmajid Anad missed their spot kicks. Wakrah won after all of their four players converted the penalties. Lucas Mendes, Mohamed Benyettou, Salih Mohamed al-Yahr and Murad Naji scored from the penalty spot for Al Wakrah, while only Rachid Tiberkanine, Evans Mensah and Moustapha Alhaje could score from the spot for Kharaitiyat.
Tiberkanine outpaced his markers Ali Karami and Ousmane Coulibaly in the fourth minute, but his low left-footed drive from inside the box was blocked by Wakrah keeper Saoud al-Khater. Five minutes later, Wakrah surprised the Kharaitiyat backline with a stunning goal. Benyettou picked up a short pass from a team-mate outside the Kharaitiyat box and moved a couple of steps. Finding a narrow angle to work on, Benyettou quickly launched a fierce drive that smashed into the goalpost to the left of keeper Shehab Mamdouh. The ball hit the post and crashed into the net as Al Wakrah celebrated the early goal in absolute jubilation.
Close to the half-hour mark, Mensah, under pressure from four Wakrah players, swivelled on the edge of the box and fired a slick drive that flew agonisingly over the bar.
In the 69th minute, Wakrah’s Cristian Ceballos broke free of his marker and charged into the Kharaitiyat box, but his shot from close range was expertly blocked by keeper Mamdouh.  Soon came the equaliser through Goumou’s spectacular header. Khaldoun Ismail Mousa charged into the Wakrah box and slipped in a short cross for Abdulmajid Anad to set up an unmarked Goumou, who jumped high into the air, a few feet away from the keeper, and nodded the ball home.
Wakrah reached the knockout quarter-final by topping Group A with 11 points (three victories and two defeats). En route to the last eight, The Blue Wave, the only side with an unbeaten record in the group.