Qatar’s El Jaish confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the 2016 AFC Champions League yesterday evening as a solitary goal from Brazilian striker Romarinho gave Sabri Lamouchi’s side a 1-0 second leg win over Al Nasr of the United Arab Emirates that completed his club’s 4-0 quarter-final aggregate win.
El Jaish will now face two-time finalists Al Ain, also from the UAE, as the club from Doha make their first-ever appearance in the last four of the continental club championship.
Al Nasr were always going to be fighting a difficult battle after seeing the result of the first leg in Doha three weeks ago annulled for fielding an ineligible player, and the subsequent 3-0 deficit proved to be too much for Ivan Jovanovic’s team to overcome.
Needing a fast start to have any realistic chance of clawing back El Jaish’s advantage, Al Nasr struggled to hit their stride and it was the visitors who looked more likely to score.
Seydou Keita’s mistimed header in the fifth minute was an early warning for Al Nasr, and four minutes later the home side were punished by a wonderful piece of skill.
Picking the ball up inside his own half, Keita surged through the heart of the Al Nasr midfield before clipping a beautifully flighted ball into the path of Romarinho, and the former Corinthians striker smashed home a powerful right foot volley that seared past the outstretched hand of Ahmad Shambih.
The goal left Al Nasr needing to score five times to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals, but it was not until the final 10 minutes of the half that the Dubai-based side started to make serious inroads into the El Jaish defence.
Abdelaziz Barrada headed wide after Jires Kembo-Ekoko clipped the ball forward while five minutes before the break the Congolese player saw his own effort curl wide of goal.
Four minutes after the break, Al Nasr went closer still, only for Salem Saleh to see his spectacular scissor kick come back off the woodwork after bouncing back up off the turf and, midway through the half, Saleh was unfortunate once again, this time directing his header just wide.
Al Nasr’s frustration extended into injury time as Saleh saw his point-blank effort somehow saved by Khalifa Ababacar before Jassim Yaqoob thrashed his effort over the bar as El Jaish did enough to advance.