Al Rayyan defeated Al Duhail 5-4 on penalties after a pulsating 1-1 draw in regulation time at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium to lift the Sheikh Jassim Cup for the fifth time on Wednesday. The curtain raiser to the new season saw a crowd of three thousand, one hundred and twenty-three.
Ahmed al Saadi scored the decisive kick to seal the win after Mohammed Muntari's kick was parried away by the brilliant Oumar Barry.
Tabata, Myongin, Khalfan Ibrahim and Sebastian Soria all scored for the 2018 Emir Cup champions. El Arabi, Nam and Duhail's captain Mohammed Musa scored for the league champions. It was a debut defeat for former Tunisian World Cup coach Nabil Maaloul.
The victory will serve as a morale boost for new Argentine coach Rodolfo Arrubarrena and his wards into the QNB Stars League season.
For Duhail, it was a similar experience last season after losing to Al Sadd but went all the way to win the league in grand style, unbeaten!
Duhail suffered the agony of losing reliable midfielder Karim Boudiaf as early as the fifth minute of the game after a knock on his knee. He was subsequently replaced by Luiz Martin. The absence of Boudiaf no doubt cost the team depth and penetration going forward but credit to Rayyan for staying focused and confident through the game.
Rodrigo Tabata had the first shot on target but for the sharp reflexes of goalkeeper Amine Lecomte who dived at full-stretch to deny the dead ball specialist.
Ismael Mohammed broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a fine finish from the edge of the box; his low shot beat Oumar Barry after he turned a defender to create space to shoot at goal. Rayyan's equaliser came in the second half from Abdulrahman al Harazi from close range.
Duhail grew into the contest and before half-time, they had a penalty appeal that was ignored by the referee.
Minutes later, Nam had the chance to give Duhail a two-goal cushion before the break but his shot was wide from 14 yards.
Abdulrahman al Harazi wasted Rayyan's only chance in the half with the keeper at his mercy as the winger fired wide with two minutes into the interval.
By Ikoli Victor
