Al Wakrah players celebrate their victory.
Doha: Idris Fattouhi scored a fabulous brace as defending champions Al Sailiya edged Al Rayyan 3-2 to enter the final of Ooredoo Cup at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, yesterday.
The Sami Trabelsi-coached side will take on Al Wakrah in the March 28 final as the Blue Waves defeated Al Gharafa 5-3 in the first semi-final at the same venue.
Walter Bwalya grabbed lead for Al Sailiya with a strike in 15th minute while Al Rayyan pulled back the goal through Mowaffaq Awad, who netted the ball from edge of the box in 44th minute.
Fattouhi’s sensational goals in 51 and 81 minutes were the highlights of the second half as Al Rayyan were knocked out despite a great fight. He scored his first goal off a free kick from the right outside the box. After Al Rayyan leveled again through Stephen Nzonzi goal in the 65th minute, Fattouhi scored the winner from a distance to seal victory for Al Sailiya. Al Rayyan’s chances for a comeback were dented by a red card to Mohammed Juma Al Alawi, who was sent off in 75th minute.
Earlier, Omid Erahimi (12th-minute penalty and 58th minutes), substitute Ismail Mahmoud (75th minute) and Jacinto Dala (88th and 90th minutes) were the scorers as Al Wakrah put up a fine show to reach the final.
Muyad Hassan (22nd and 51st minutes) and Sofiane Hanni (35th minute) scored Al Gharafa’s goals.
After being down by a goal, Al Gharafa fought back and struck thrice before Al Wakrah added four more goals to their tally to emerge as the deserving winners.
Al Wakrah started off on a strong note and had an upper hand in terms of creating chances, but Al Gharafa slowly settled into their stride.
Al Wakrah attacked more through the flanks and shot ahead through Omid, who converted a penalty awarded through VAR after Dala was fouled.
Al Sailiya's Driss Fettouhi celebrates after scoring his first goal.
Al Wakrah’s Omar Ali had a goal disallowed for offside in the 19th minute.
Three minutes later, Muyad helped Al Gharafa draw parity by scoring off a fast break.
Hanni made it 2-1 with a long-range grounder and Al Gharafa goalkeeper Qasim Burhan made a few saves.
Six minutes into the second half, Muyad scored again, but before long Al Wakrah reduced the margin to 2-3 as Omid scored with a long-range shot. In between these two goals, Omar Ali shot over the bar, thus wasting a chance to score for Al Wakrah.
Ismail Mahmoud then got into the scoring act and made the score 3-3.
Afterwards, Al Wakrah looked more dangerous even as Al Gharafa’s form was on the wane.
Consistent scorer Dala’s brace towards the end made the scoreline look easy for Al Wakrah.
Al Wakrah had qualified for the semifinals by topping the five-team Group A with 18 points, while Al Gharafa made it to the last-four stage as the runners-up of Group B with 11 points.
