Al Arabi and Al Wakrah players in action during yesterday's opening quarter-final match of the Ooredoo Cup at the Al Arabi Stadium yesterday. Picture: Anvar Sadath
Doha: Al Arabi and Al Ahli marched into the semi-finals of the Ooredoo Cup after recording convincing victories yesterday.
Al Arabi reached the last-four stage by beating Al Wakrah 1-0 in the first quarter-final while Al Ahli overcame a strong resistance from Al Gharafa to advance with a 1-0 win.
Both quarter-finals were played at the Al Arabi Stadium.
Pierre-Michelle Lasogga scored the only goal of the match in the fourth minute for Al Arabi.
If it was Al Wakrah who had more possession in the first half, it was Al Arabi who created more chances.
Lasogga, who found the net after being set up by Morteza Mohammed with a header, led Al Arabi’s charge as Mohammed Salal El Neel, who has not recovered fully from an injury, was replaced in the 11th minute by Yousef Abdurizag.
Yousef then made back-to-back attempts besides testing goalkeeper Hassan Idriss with a long-range shot.
Mohamed Benyettou spearheaded Al Wakrah’s challenge even as injured forward Christian Ceballos continued to sit in the stands.
Iliass Bel Hassani pulled the strings from the midfield, while Benyettou and Omar Ali made attempts for an equaliser.
In the second half, Al Wakrah pressed hard for a goal in the face of exit from the tournament. However, that never came as The Dream Team hung on to the slender lead, thanks also to their goalkeeper Mahmoud Ibrahim.
Even some last-ditch efforts did not help the Blue Wave either.
Al Arabi had advanced to the knockout round after finishing third in Group B with seven points, behind Al Khor (13 points) and Qatar SC (10 points).
Al Gharafa were the other side from Group B to reach the quarter-finals.
Al Wakrah had progressed to the knockout quarterfinals after finishing runners-up in Group A with eight points, four less than toppers Al Ahli.
Al Sadd and Al Rayyan were the other teams from Group A that advanced to the quarters.
In the second semi-final, captain Nabil El-Zahr scored his team's only goal in the 55th minute.
The remaining quarter-finals will take place at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium.
First, it will be hosts Qatar SC and Al Sadd playing in the third quarter-final at 4.45pm. The final last-eight fixture will kick off at 7.45pm between Al Khor and Al Rayyan.
