Doha: Goalkeeper Salah Zakaria was the hero as Al Duhail advanced to the AFC Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-6 penalty shootout victory at the expense of neighbours Al Rayyan after the two sides had played out a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes at Al Thumama Stadium.
Al Duhail advanced to the AFC champions League quarter-finals with a 7-6 penalty shootout victory at the expense of neighbours Al Rayyan after the two sides had played out a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes at Al Thumama Stadium yesterday.
Rayyan’s first foray into the knockout stages ended in heartbreak, while Duhail returned to the last eight of the competition for the fourth time in their history and the first since 2018.After a slow start to the game, Duhail gradually started applying the pressure on their opponents and had their first sight of goal midway through the first half when Karim Boudiaf whipped a cross from the left into the box which was met by a towering Youssef Ayman header that was heroically parried away by Rayyan goalkeeper Ivanildo.
Rayyan came racing out of the blocks after the restart and when Boudiaf fluffed his attempt to head away a long ball, it fell for Chilean forward Jeisson Vargas who looked to move through on goal but was apprehended by Bassam al-Rawi.
Vargas stepped up to curl the resulting free-kick past the wall, but was denied by Zakaria.Coming off the bench for the second half, the tournament’s top scorer Edmilson Junior sent Al Duhail fans into raptures as he curled a magnificent effort from out on the left into the top corner, his ball nestling into the net. But the Belgian’s joy lasted merely a few seconds before the goal was overturned after a VAR check revealed an offside decision.
Zakaria was once again called upon to produce his finest save when Vargas curled a powerful free-kick from 25 yards out towards the top corner with just ten minutes left on the clock. Duhail thought they had won it deep into added time when Nam Tae-hee broke free and squared for Olunga to tap into the empty net, but the flag had already gone up, deeming the Korean midfielder offside as the game headed into extra time.
The deadlock was finally broken after 107 minutes as substitute Muntari gave Duhail the lead. The Qatari international found space inside the box to head home from Edmilson Junior’s cross from the left, a goal reminiscent of Qatar’s only goal at the FIFA World Cup 2022, also scored by Muntari.
With the game deep into added time of the second extra half, Rayyan resorted to long balls and from one, former AS Roma and Stoke City man Steven Nzonzi received the ball behind the defence, unleashing a thunderous half-volley into the net to force penalty shootouts.
The two teams matched each other stride for stride from the penalty spot, scoring all of their first five shots, and extending the scoring run until Zakaria saved Rayyan’s seventh attempt to send his side through 7-6 on penalties.
Source: Qatar Football Association