Doha: UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli won their second title in as many years in the Qatar-UAE Super Cup after defeating Al Rayyan 3-1 to lift the Challenge Shield at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium of Al Rayyan club on Thursday.
Shabab Al Ahli had defeated Qatar’s Al Duhail 2-1 to win the Super Shield in Dubai in the inaugural bilateral tournament last year.
Shabab Al Ahli’s goals came off the boots of Yuri César (28th minute), Sardar Azmoun (52nd minute), and Guilherme Bala (90th + 7 minutes), while Al Rayyan were gifted an own goal by Shabab Al Ahli’s Renan in the 42nd minute of the highly entertaining encounter.
Knowing what was at stake, the two teams came vigorously for each other’s jugular right from the start and the interesting match was further livened in the ninth minute when Al Rayyan’s goalkeeper, Paulo Victor, made a fantastic save from what was a goalbound shot from Shabab Al Ahli’s Bogdan Planić that received tremendous applause from the stands.
The visitors kept upping their pressure against The Lions, but Al Rayyan’s goalkeeper, who was in fantastic shape, stood between them and what could have been a flurry of goals until the 28th minute when the Brazil-born Emirati midfielder Yuri César found the back of the net for them following an assist by Guilherme Bala, who literally hijacked the ball from Al Rayyan’s Murad Naji near the centre line before starting the moves that ended with the goal.
While it seemed that the Emirati side would be heading into the half-time break with their lone goal lead, Al Rayyan’s Roger Guedes made some darting moves in the visitors final third in the 42nd minute that resulted in an own goal by Shabab Al Ahli’s Renan to ensure the match was even at half-time.
The halftime talk seemed to have a positive effect on Al Rayyan as they upped their game in the second half with a more purposeful play, pressing high and hard, but for all their efforts, it was the visitors who took the lead again in the 52nd minute through Sardar Azmoun, who finished off a diagonal cross from Bala in the 18-yard box with a simple tap-in.
A search for an equaliser by Al Rayyan almost yielded the desired result in the 73rd minute, but Shabab Al Ahli’s goalkeeper Hamad Al Meqebaali made a fingertip save of what was almost a headed goal by Guedes.
Substitute Tameem Mansour wasted a golden opportunity to equalise for Al Rayyan in two minutes of added time when he was set up for a sitter, but the Qatari forward’s right-footed shot went painfully wide to the disappointment of the bench and the vociferous fans who turned out for the match in their large numbers.
Five minutes later, Shabab Al Ahli extended their lead by two goals with Bala having the simplest of tap-ins after being fed by Eid Khamis, following a fast counterattack that started from the edge of Al Rayyan’s 18-yard box, to make it 3-1 for the Emiratis as they clinch the title in Doha at Al Rayyan’s expense.
