Al Arabi beat Al Ahli to march into Amir Cup semifinals

Doha, Qatar: Al Arabi marched into the semifinals of the Amir Cup with a 3-0 victory against Al Ahli on Wednesday.

In the first quarterfinal played at Al Duhail Stadium Pierre Lasogga scored a double in the first half before substitute Khalifa Al Khalaf completed the tally with a deflected shot in the 69th minute.

Ahli started brightly and Hernan Beers header in the second minute had Arabi goalkeeper Mahmoud Ibrahim scrambling but soon Arabi took control.

They took the lead in the sixth minute after Ahli defender Mohamed Abdulnaser’s poor control handed the possession to Arabi captain Ahmed Fathi who found Lasogga making his move through the middle.

The German striker took the ball in his stride and beat Ahli goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodrigues with a beautiful finish.

Lasogga doubled his tally in the 22nd minute with a simple tap in after Abdullah Hassan’s shot rebounded off the post and came straight at him.

Arabi had two glorious chances to put the game to bed in the first half but Rodrigues made to fine stops to deny Hamdi Harbaoui and Lasogga.

Ahli fared slightly better in the second half but when Al Khalaf’s intended cross took a deflection off substitute defender Mohamed Khalid’s shin and looped over Rodrigues into the goal, they had no way back.

And though Ahli midfielder Mohamed Dimae’s powerful shot had Arabi goalkeeper Ibrahim in a spot of bother and Beers wasted a chance right at the end, chipping the ball over the bar with only the goalkeeper to beat, Arabi always had the match in their control.

In the second quarterfinal on Thursday, Al Rayyan take on Al Markhiya at Al Sadd Stadium.