DOHA: Al Duhail beat defending champions Al Sadd 2-0 in the final to win the 2023 Qatar Cup title at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Thursday night.
Michael Olunga (48th minute) and Ferjani Sassi (54th minute) scored for the winners, who claimed their third title after 2015 and 2018.
The strongly-contested final between the two top sides produced an exciting start as Al Sadd made a couple of early attempts at the opponent box.
But the big moments arrived midway through the opening half, in the 25th minute, when Al Sadd’s Moroccan forward Ayoub El Kaabi made a diving header in front of the goal, but it went over.
The move was realized after Akram Afif passed a great ball to Cazorla on the left, who then provided a curling kick for El Kaabi to go for the header.
Duhail returned in the second half with renewed vigour that saw them score the first goal after a fast-paced move.
Ferjani provided Olunga with a cross from inside the box and the latter’s kick beat a diving goalkeeper Saad Al Dossari to his right.
They doubled their lead soon enough with another thrilling goal.
A fine move resulted in Sassi moving the ball toward the right to Almoez, whose kick was blocked by the Al Sadd goalkeeper, but the ball fell to Sassi who slotted it home.
For Al Duhail, this was their second title of the season following their recent Ooredoo Cup triumph.
His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, awarded the trophy to the winning team. (QSL)
