DOHA (Qatar): Al Sadd defeated Al Ahli 2-0 in the second semifinal of Ooredoo Cup at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday.
Santi Cazorla (71st minute) and substitute Akram Afif (90+1) scored the goals for Al Sadd.
Al Sadd will face Al Arabi, who defeated Al Rayyan 2-1 in the first semifinal earlier in the day, in the title clash.
Al Sadd’s star signing Cazorla, who had great stints with Spanish club Villarreal and English side Arsenal among others, thus made his debut in Qatar memorable.
The Spaniard, who started the game, impressed with his speed and dribbling skills before being substituted late in the match.
Young Abdulrasheed Umaru was the standout player for Al Ahli, whose game was invariably controlled by captain Nabil El Zhar.
Yousef Abdulrazaq started the proceedings for Al Sadd by shooting over the bar in the seventh minute and Baghdad Bounedjah sent his shot straight to goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodriguez in the 12th minute.
Umaru tested goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham the next minute.
Al Ahli’s Hazem Shehata’s angular shot in the 53rd minute was parried by Barsham and soon Al Sadd’s Rodrigo Tabata made an attempt.
A spate of activity saw Al Ahli’s Umaru’s shot being blocked by Al Sadd’s Bahaa Mamdouh and Nabil shoot wide of the target.
At the other end, Bounedjah failed to connect a Mohammed Waad cross and Akram, who came off the bench in the second half, skied his shot.
Cazorla put Al Sadd ahead as he linked up with Yousef Abdulrazaq and Bounedjah before curling the ball into the top left corner of the net.
Akram sealed the issue with a neat finish past the Al Ahli goalkeeper after playing a one-two with Ahmed Bader Sayyar.
It may be recalled that Al Ahli had defeated Al Sadd by a 4-3 margin when they faced off in the group stage (Round 3) of this season’s Ooredoo Cup on 23rd November, 2019.
Al Ahli had advanced to the semifinals by defeating reigning champions Al Gharafa 1-0, whereas Al Sadd progressed to the last four by edging Qatar SC 5-4 on penalties after the regular time ended in a 1-1 draw.
