Kalba rally to beat Al Jazira as Al Nasr blank Al Dhafra

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Peniel Kokou Mlapa scored a brace as Ittihad Kalba came from behind and defeated Al Jazira 2-1 in the seventh round match of the Arabian Gulf Cup at the Rashid Bin Saeed Stadium in Ajman on Saturday.

The victory was not enough to take Kalba through to the knockout stages but it saved them blushes from ending their campaign without a win. The victory will also boost their confidence for the Arabian Gulf League matches.

It was Al Jazira, who took the lead first through Bruno De Oliviera in the 24th minute, but Kalba staged a gritty fight-back to emerge winners at the end. De Oliviera opened the scoring for Al Jazira, putting pressure on Kalba, who were win-less in the tournament before this match. Kalba tried hard to break the deadlock and restore parity but they could not penetrate the tight defence of Al Jazira. The first-half was dominated by Al Jazira and ended with the visitors leading 1-0.

However, a resolute Kalba did not give up and looked confident to notch up a victory so they could bow out of the tournament with respect.

In the second-half, a resilient Kalba unleashed a violent attack to unsettle Al Jazira. Mlapa finally founded the net in the 72nd minute to open the scoring for Kalba and helped them draw level the scores.

Al Jaizra did try to make some in-roads through Omar Abdulrehman but failed to extend their lead and put any pressure on Kalba. The hosts were also handed a couple of yellow cards.

The game was nicely poised looked to be heading towards a draw. In the dying moments, once again, Mlapa converted a pass from Walid Amber Esmail into a spectacular goal to put Kalba ahead in th 89th minute, two minutes after he was handed a yellow card.

Meanwhile, in the Group B, Al Nasr defeated Al Dhafra 2-0. Foreign import A Negrado put Al Nasr ahead with a 23rd minute strike. In the 83rd minute, Glauber added one more goal to extend the lead as Al Dhafra failed to break the deadlock.