AFC
Goalkeeper Salah Zakaria was the hero as Al Duhail advanced to the AFC Champions League™ (West) 2022 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 on Sunday.
Al Rayyan’s first foray into the knockout stages ended in heartbreak, while Al Duhail returned to the last eight of the competition for the fourth time in their history and the first since 2018.
In the first match of the Round of 16 (West), the two sides observed a minute’s silence before kick-off to honour the victims of the devastating earthquakes that recently hit Syria and Turkey.
After a slow start to the game, Al 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 Al Rayyan goalkeeper Ivanildo.
Three minutes later, Al Duhail captain Almoez Ali demonstrated his range of skill to outsmart his marker on the right flank before floating a cross for AFC Champions League 2021 top scorer Michael Olunga whose free header narrowly missed the target.
At the other end of the pitch, Ivorian forward Yohan Boli took advantage of a misplaced backpass to move through on goal and unleash a powerful strike, forcing a diving save out of goalkeeper Salah Zakaria as the first half ended goalless.
Al 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 leading 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 10 minutes left on the clock.
Hernan Crespo’s Al 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 Al 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, Al 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 a penalty shootout.
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 Al Rayyan’s seventh attempt to send his side through 7-6 on penalties.