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Rodrigo’s brace helps Lions beat Lekhwiya 3-1
Ikoli Victor
Doha
Brazil-born Rodrigo Tabata scored two spectacular goals to lead Al Rayyan to a 3-1 victory over defending champions Lekhwiya for a place in the Emir Cup 2017 final at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday.
This is Rayyan's 14th entry into the Emir Cup final and they have been victors on six occasions, their last success being in 2013. The win will compensate for the club's recent dismal outing in the AFC Champions League where they were eliminated losing 4-3 at home to Saudi Arabia giants Al Hilal.
For Lekhwiya, coach Djamel Belmadi will regret keeping his best players Mohammed Musa, Ismail Mohammed, Luiz Martin, Nam Tae-hee and Youssef Msakni on the bench until the second periodu8206?.
u8206?Michael Laudrup had predicted a cagey affair and the match lived up to its billing with both teams giving their all, but it was the Lions who triumphed thanks to the veteran Tabata in front of over 7,700 spectators.
Defender Musab scored first for Rayyan in the second half and Youssef Msakni equalised in the 77th minute. Then the Tabata produced a man-of-the match performance in the remaining minutes of the game.
First was a superb free kick to restore Al Rayyan's lead and the third was calmly slotting the ball home to kill off Lekhwiya's fight even with another five minutes added.
Al Rayyan will now wait for the winner of Al Sadd and El Jaish in Sunday's second semi-final for the final of the 45th edition of Qatar's most prestigious cup competition slated for May 19 at renovated World Cup 2022 Khalifa International Stadium.
Lekhwiya started brightly and would have gone ahead in the 5th minute if Edgar Bruno had directed his header at goal but his effort rolled inches past Oumar Barry's post.
Al Rayyan took the initiative with their passing game but never came close until the 23rd minute with a Tabata shot going wide from a Daniel Gomou slick pass.
Karim Boudiaf's long ball from every part of the pitch to his team-mates was never utilised.
Lekhwiya keeper Qasem Burhan was called to action with a brilliant save to deny Sebeastianu8206? Soria from inside the box.
Hassan Afif had the best chance with eight remaining in the first half when he outpaced right-back Mohammed Alaaeldin to set himself up in a-one-on one with Barry but his shot was thwarted by the Rayyan custodian who threw himself big at the winger.
In the second half, Lekhwiya continued from where they had left at the break with Barry forced to make a save from a low shot and collecting Bruno Edgar's tame header.
Msakni and Nam Tae-hee came in the hour mark with no goals to either side.
Musab Kedar grabbed the opener with a clinical finish after some sloppy defending allowed a loose ball from Tabata to defender slotting it past an on-rushing Burhan in the 65th minute.
After the goal, Laudrup replaced Sebastian Soria for the youthful and quick Ahmed Alaaeldin. But it was Lekhwiya who benefitted from a fine attacking move from the left flank as Msakni equalised with a fine goal to level the tie.
Lekhwiya's lead, however, only lasted a few minutes with another Tabata master class in the 81st minute.
The dead ball specialist delivered one of his trademark free kicks to beat the seven-man Lekhwiya wall and goalkeeper Burhan much to the delight of the vociferous Al Rayyan fans.
One of Laudrup's joker in the game was Spanish striker Sergio Garcia, who is returning from injury.
The striker in a counter-attacking move set on goal unselfishly squared the ball for the unmarked Tabata to slot the ball home for Rayyan's third in the second minute of added time.
Scoreline: Al Rayyan 3 (Musab K 64’, Rodrigo Tabata 80’ & 90+1) bt Lekhwiya 1 (Yusuf Msakni 78’)
