Action during QSL Week 21 match between Al Wakrah and Al Gharafa on Tuesday.
Doha: The 2020-21 season Ooredoo Cup semi-finals will be played next week with Al Wakrah set to take on Al Sailiya in the first last-4 clash at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday. The match will kick off at 5:00pm.
Al Wakrah go into the match on a high after defeating Al Gharafa 2-0 in Week 21 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League on March 16.
Mohamed Benyettou and Abdulrahman Mohammed were the scorers for Al Wakrah, who improved their points tally to 22. However, The Blue Wave remained in the ninth position in the table.
More importantly, Al Wakrah, with their sixth victory, stretched their unbeaten run to four matches in the league, having drawn with Qatar SC goalless, beaten Al Sailiya 1-0 and held newly-crowned champions Al Sadd to a 1-1 draw in Weeks 17, 18 and 19 respectively.
Coached by Marquez Lopez, Al Wakrah would look extend their fine run into the Ooredoo Cup and reach the final by beating Al Sailiya.
Meanwhile, Al Sailiya, under the tutelage of Sami Trabelsi, will also be keen to progress to the final. The Peregrines are currently eighth in the QNB Stars League table with 23 points.
Al Sailiya have not been doing well of late and they would like to put that record too straight when they take on Al Wakrah.
Al Sailiya had recently lost 1-4 to Al Arabi in the Amir Cup quarterfinal.
Al Wakrah were the first to reach the 2020-21 Ooredoo Cup semi-finals by beating Al Kharaitiyat 4-3 on penalties (1-1 after regular time) in the quarterfinal.
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.
The second quarterfinal between Al Arabi and Al Sailiya was also decided on penalties, with the latter winning 5-4 in sudden death (2-2 after regular time and 4-4 after tie-breaker).
Meanwhile, Al Gharafa will face Al Rayyan in the second semifinal at the Al Sadd Stadium on Sunday. The kick-off is at 5pm.
Both Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan are traditionally-strong teams with many accomplishments and huge fan base. Therefore, the match-up is sure to evoke keen interest.
Al Gharafa, coached by Slavisa Jokanovic, go into the game with many points to prove.
Al Rayyan, under eminent French coach Laurent Blanc, are placed third in the QSL with 34 points. The Lions had defeated Al Arabi by a 2-0 margin in Week 19 and would look to sustain the momentum in the Ooredoo Cup semi-final.
In the 2020-21 Ooredoo Cup’s knockout quarter-finals played on November 16, 2020, Al Gharafa defeated Al Sadd 4-2 and Al Rayyan edged Al Khor 1-0.
