The Peninsula
A brace from Yohan Boli and goals from Khaled Muftah and Rodrigo Tabata helped Al Rayyan coast to an emphatic 4-0 win over second-division side Mesaimeer and advance to the quarter-finals of the Amir Cup at Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday.
Also making their way into the last eight stages were Al Sailiya who defeated Umm Salal 2-1.
The Al Rayyan-Mesaimeer clash saw Al Rayyan holding sway over the proceedings with the winners going into the half time break leading 2-0. Boli gave Al Rayyan the lead in the 11th minute and Muftah consolidated the lead in the 38th minute.
In the second half, Boli struck again in the 81st minute and Tabata completed the one-sided win with a goal in the 90th minute.
Al Rayyan pressed for the midfield advantage right from kick-off and was successful in having their way pushing Mesaimeer on the defensive.
The second division side was not overawed by the situation and gave a good account in repulsing the moves. With Al Rayyan coming up with varied combinations, Mesaimmer midfielders had to work overtime to check the free-flowing Al Rayyan in check.
With Al Rayyan having most of the possession, Mesaimeer relied on the counter-attacks and the few stray forays that they made were effectively dealt with by the Al Rayyan defense.
Coach Diego Aguirre’s side did not take long to rip open the rival defense. Boli, the Ivory Coast striker, finished off a move started by Franck Kom.
Thereafter, Al Rayyan had a few chances to swell the lead but Mesaimeer goalkeeper Hassan Ahan Afsordeh came out with some out of the blue saves to deny Al Rayyan strikers more goals.
Twice in the first half, Hassan deflected wickedly bending free-kicks from Rodrigo Tabata.
Mesaimeer’s goal had another narrow escape in the first half when Boli’s goal was disallowed by the referee as his team-mate was pulled up for foul in a goalmouth melee.
Al Rayyan consolidated the lead with eight minutes to go for the first half. Mesaimeer paid dearly for a costly defensive lapse. A hasty clearance by a Mesaimeer defender landed at the feet of Khaled, who took a couple of steps and unleashed a left-footed thunderbolt that had no answer from Hassan in Mesaimeer goal.
In the second half, Al Rayyan continued to dominate in the second session with Mesaimeer unable to make inroads in the Al Rayyan defense.
Al Rayyan came close to scoring a few times in the second half but had to wait till the 81st minute to get the third goal.
Boli got his second goal of the match as he latched on a long ball and beat a couple of defenders and the last line of Mesaimeer defense to make it 3-0.
Tabata, who worked overtime in the midfield, capped his effort with a goal of his own in the 90th minute to complete the resounding win.
In the earlier match yesterday, Al Sailiya struck late in the first half and consolidated the lead six minutes into the second session while Umm Salal pulled one back nine minutes from the final whistle.
Al Sailiya dominated play right from kick-off and put pressure on the Umm Salal defense.
Al Sailiya came close to scoring a number of times but could not get past the rival defense.
On the other hand, Umm Salal was pushed on the defensive, After a sustained attacking play, Al Sailiya struck with four minutes to go for the first half whistle.
Mubarak Boussoufa struck on the goal front for Al Sailiya making no mistake from the penalty spot, sending the rival keeper the wrong way his penalty kick.
Al Sailiya consolidated the lead in the second half.
Maher Youssef got his name on the scorer's list with a goal to give his team a 2-0 cushion.
With a cushion of 2-0 lead, Al Sailiya continued to dictate terms but could not add more goals.
Umm Salal came back with a late challenge to pull one back with Nasser Al Nasr breaking through the Al Sailiya defense to make it 2-1, with nine minutes to go for the final whistle.
In the last few minutes, Umm Salal threw everything in the attack in search of the equalizer but Al Sailiya rose to the challenge to repulse the attacks and keep the scoreline at 2-1 till the final whistle.
Al Sailiya’s Boussoufa was chosen as the Man-of-the-Match in his side’s win over Umm Salal.