The Peninsula
Al Arabi and Al Gharafa marched into the quarter-finals of the 2019 Amir Cup, following their wins over Umm Salal and Al Khor yesterday. In matches played at the Grand Hamad Stadium, Al Arabi trounced Umm Salal 3-1 while Al Gharafa stormed to a resounding 5-2 over Al Khor. In the quarter-finals, Al Arabi will take on Al Rayyan while Al Gharafa will meet Al Sadd. In today’s last pre-quarterfinals, Al Shanaiya take on Second Division club Al Markhiya SC while Al Ahli meet Qatar SC. Al Gharafa made their intentions clear right from kick off and were successful in scoring in the very sixth minute of the match and there after scored at regular intervals to have the match very much under their control. Abdulaziz Hatem opened the scoring for Al Gharafa and scored a second one in the 58th minute of the match. Al Gharafa scored the second one in the 30th minute through Ahmed Al Ganehi to make it 2-0 with an half an hour gone into the match. Tiago Bezerra pulled one back in the 37th minute to keep Al Khor in the match.
The teams went into the half time break with Al Gharafa leading 2-1. On resumption, Al Gharafa added a third one through a spot kick conversion with Ahmed Alaaeldin beating Al Khor keeper all ends up six minutes into the second half. Seven minutes later, Al Ganehi added his second goal of the match. Al Khor kept on fighting and managed to reduce the margin with seven minutes to go for the final whistle with Bezerra getting his name on the scorers’ list for the second time in the match. An injury time goal from Mehdi Taremi however dashed Al Khor’s hopes of making a last minute bounce back with a long range goal. The event offers a chance to lower division teams to test their mettle against the big guns in a bid to be present in the final on May 16. Both the semi-final matches will take place at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on May 12 and 13. This year’s final will be held on May 16 at Wakrah Stadium. The final will also bring down the curtains on the nine-month long football season in Qatar. Last year, Al Duhail won the Amir Cup defeating Al Rayyan 2-1.