Al-Sadd booked its seat in the final match of the fifty-first edition of the Emir Football Cup, after defeating its counterpart Al-Shahaniya by five goals to one in the match that took place between them today at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in the semi-final round of the tournament.
The Spanish Santi Cazorla scored for Al Sadd in the 18th and 33rd minutes (from the penalty mark), the Moroccan Ayoub Al Kaabi in the 27th minute, and the Algerian Baghdad Bou Najah in the 89th and (90 + 5) minutes.. while Senegalese Ibrahima Gay scored Al Shahania’s only goal after 6 minutes From the start of the second half. With this victory, Al-Sadd put an end to Al-Shahaniya’s adventure in the championship and set a date in the final match with the winner of the other semi-final match that brings Al-Arabi and Al-Sailiya tomorrow / Tuesday / at the same stadium.
The course of the first half was not out of the ordinary, in light of Al Sadd’s clear control of the midfield, its realism, and its success in rotating the ball and maintaining balance between the lines, which enabled it to impose its style. On the other hand, Al-Shahaniya only lasted a quarter of an hour before conceding the first goal, and preferred to stay in its back areas despite being hit by two other goals, in an effort by coach Alvaro Mejia to get out of the first half with the least losses. The first minutes witnessed offensive maneuvers by Al-Sadd, the team that has won the most championship title (18 times), and its Moroccan player, Ayoub Al-Kaabi, almost opened the scoring after following a long ball sent by Boualem Khoukhi, but it fell behind the crossbar in the 12th minute.
And by the 15th minute, the arena referee, Meshari Al-Shammari, used the video assistive technology / VAR / to calculate a penalty kick after Al-Sadd striker Akram Afif fell inside the area, and Spain’s Santi Cazorla succeeded in putting Al-Sadd in front by successfully executing the penalty kick to the right of Al-Shahaniya goalkeeper Bautista Burki in the 18th minute. Cazorla returned To send a wonderful long ball, Moroccan Ayoub Al-Kaabi entered it to put the ball cleverly into the net, doubling the score in the 27th minute. Al-Sadd continued with its offensive approach and extended its advantage to the midfield, and Cazorla managed to score his second and third personal goal for his team in the 33rd minute, after he penetrated the defensive wall of Al-Shahaniya and faced goalkeeper Bautista Burky put the ball to his left.
In the second half, Al-Shahaniya’s desire to bridge the gap appeared, and Senegalese Ibrahima Jay managed, 6 minutes after the start of the half, to score a goal to bridge the difference, when he entered the Al-Sadd penalty area, escaped from control, and scored against goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb. Al-Shahaniya scored again against Al-Sadd through Senegalese Ibrahima Jay in the 61st minute, but the referee canceled the goal due to offside. Al-Shahaniya attack took advantage of the defensive mistakes made by Al-Sadd team in the last third of its stadium and almost reduced the difference on more than one occasion had it not been for the brilliance of goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb. Akram Afif’s colleagues returned to control the area of operations in the middle with many attempts to consolidate the result, especially after the changes made by the Spanish coach Juanma Leo. The penalty is to shoot to the left of Al-Shahaniya goalkeeper.
In stoppage time, the Al Shahania defense raised the flag of surrender, and the Algerian striker returned to widen the gap and scored his second and fifth personal goal for his team in the fifth minute, after he received a cross pass into the small box from Boualem Khoukhi, to end Al Sadd’s adventure in the tournament with a wide victory. Al-Sadd had avoided the surprise of Umm Salal in the quarter-finals by defeating it 3-1, while Al-Shahaniya reached this stage by defeating Al-Gharrafa in a penalty shootout. It is noteworthy that the final match of the 51st edition of the Emir Football Cup, which will be hosted by Ahmed bin Ali Al-Mondial Stadium, will be held on May 12, and it is the second time that this stadium hosts the final match of the competition after the 2020 final, in which Al-Sadd won the title at the expense of Al-Arabi.
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