Al Rayyan's Yohan Boli is congratulated by team-mate Ibrahim Abdelhalim Masoud after the Ivorian scored a goal against Al Gharafa during yesterday's Ooredoo Cup semi-final.
Doha: Ivorian striker Yohan Boli struck twice in the first half (18th and 36th minutes) before Mohammed Juma Al Alwai (57th minute) added a third as Al Rayyan clinched a dominant 3-0 win over Al Gharafa to book a place in the Ooredoo Cup final yesterday.
In the final which is scheduled for Friday, March 26, Al Rayyan will meet Al Sailiya who were handed victory over Al Wakrah yesterday following a Qatar Football Association Disciplinary Committee decision.
On Saturday, Al Wakrah defeated Al Sailiya 3-0. However, the QFA disciplinary committee yesterday decided to reverse the result and hand a QR10,000 fine to Al Wakrah for fielding an ineligible player during the first semi-final.
In yesterday's clash, both Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa were without players who are on national duty.
Al Rayyan dominated possession and had more of the opportunities than Al Gharafa in the first half, with Boli, Yacine Brahimi and Abdulrahman Al Harazi giving a tough time to rival goalkeeper Yousef Hassan with threatening moves.
Boli made much of a difference by scoring two goals before the teams went into the half-time break.
He scored the first goal off a corner kick taken by Brahimi and Dame Traore set him up. Ibrahim Masoud set the stage for the second goal scored by Boli.
Al Rayyan started from where they left off in the second half. Boli found the mark in the 50th minute, but was ruled offside by referee Yousef Al Sharshani.
Five minutes later, Al Gharafa had a good chance to reduce the margin, but Jonathan Kodjia’s shot was saved by Al Rayyan goalkeeper Fahad Younis.
Mohammed Juma soon made it 3-0 with a first-time goal-bound shot from deep on the left, with Ibrahim Masoud again doing the spadework.
Al Gharafa made some serious attempts at the goal. Saeed Al Hajj’s rising shot was parried by Fahad with a diving save in the 61st minute and Kodjia’s placing shot from close went narrowly wide of the target in stoppage time. And Al Rayyan cruised to an easy win.
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.
Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan reached the quarterfinals being the first and third team from Group B with 13 and seven points respectively.
