Al rayyan: Al Rayyan qualified for the semifinals of the Gulf Champions League after defeating Yemen's Al-Tadhamon Hadramout 3-0 on Wednesday at the Saud bin Abdulrahman Stadium in the fifth round of Group B matches.

According to Qatar News Agency, Al Rayyan raised their points tally to nine, securing its place at the top of the group and officially qualifying for the semifinals regardless of their final match against Oman's Al Nahda, currently second with seven points, scheduled for the 17th of this month. Al Tadhamon Hadramout remain at the bottom of the group with four points, behind Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab on goal difference.

Al Rayyan dominated from the start of the match and opened the scoring early through Spanish striker, Rodrigo Moreno, who converted a cross from Brazilian Wesley Ribeiro in the fifth minute. Hadhramaut Solidarity finished the match with ten men after Yazeed Al Yazidi was shown a red card in the 21st minute following a VAR review for a rough tackle on Wesley Ribeiro.

Al Rayyan continued their dominance in the second half, adding a second goal in the 62nd minute through Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who converted Abdullah Yousef's cross. Substitute Mohammed Siraj extended Al Rayyan's lead to 3-0 in the 73rd minute, heading home a cross from Hazem Ahmed to secure a comfortable 3-0 victory.

The Gulf Champions League, organized by the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation, sees the top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals, which are played over two legs. Duhok of Iraq won the inaugural edition of the tournament under its new format last season, defeating Al Qadsia of Kuwait in the final.