Al Ain pip Sharjah, join Shabab Al Ahli and Al Jazira in Arabian Gulf Cup semis

Super Sub Mohammed Abdulrahman scored late as Al Ain defeated Sharjah 2-1 at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in the Arabian Gulf Cup quarter-finals on Friday.

The game started with a bang as Mohammed Khalfan was brought down inisde the box by Ismael Ahmed which compelled the referee to point to the spot and award Sharjah a penalty kick. Igor Coronado sent the ball home from the spot to break the deadlock in the eighth minute.

The Boss responded around 20 minutes later, as they leveled things up through Kodjo Laba. Tsukasa Shiotani sent an in-swinging cross that was poorly handled by Ahmed Mahmoud to reach the Togolese, who smashed the ball into the back of the net with an outstanding scissor kick.

Five minutes before the halftime whistle, Khalfan squared the ball to Coronado, who went past Al Ain’s backline with a genius backheel flick, but his right-footed effort was denied brilliantly by Khalid Eisa. The hosts controlled the early stages of the second half and they nearly took the lead in the 57th minute, when Laba received the ball near the edge of the box and cut on his right, before sending a low strike the went inches away from the post.

Al Ain kept pressing up the pitch and just three minutes before the fulltime whistle, super sub Mohammed Abdulrahman snatched the winning goal for his side, as he converted Bandar Al Ahbabi’s accurately crossed corner kick, into the bottom corner with a precise header.

Shabab Al Ahli advance to the semi-finals after defeating Al Wasl 5-1 at the Rashid Stadium.

Shabab Al Ahli got off to a lightening start, as they managed to open the account in the 19th minute after a series of wasted chances. Ahmed Abdullah sent a long cross towards Luvannor Henrique, who squared the ball to Mohammed Marzooq. The defender converted past Humaid Abdullah with a powerful header, to make it 1-0

It only took Al Wasl five minutes to score the equaliser, when Fernando Gaibor sent an accurately crossed in-swinging corner kick that Abdullah Jassim headed into the back of the net.

In the 35th minute, the Cheetahs nearly turned the table when Amer Mohammed sent a low cross inside the box, however, Fabio De Lima wasn’t on time to meet the ball.

Shabab Al Ahli controlled the proceedings of the second half and their efforts finally paid off in the 62nd minute, as they regained the lead through Leonardo, whose right footed free-kick effort nestled into the top corner.

20 minutes ahead of the fulltime whistle, the hosts nearly extended their lead with another free-kick effort from Ahmed Khalil. However, the sub’s strike cannoned off the woodwork.

In the 81st minute, Federico Cartabia came on to replace Leonardo and just two minutes after getting on to the pitch the Italian made it 3-1 as he went up the pitch and curled the ball past Abdullah following a huge solo effort. The hosts extended their lead even further in the 89th minute through Henrique. The winger received Khalil’s pass on the right side and placed it into the top corner.

In the dying moments of the game, Khalil sealed the entertaining victory with the fifth goal.

Al Jazira also booked a spot in the last four as they eliminated Al Wahda after an impressive 4-0 victory.

After a slow start, Al Jazira rained Al Wahda’s net as they scored three goals in a span of just four minutes. The Pride of Abu Dhabi took the lead around the 30-minute mark, when Keno intercepted the ball from Rim Chang-woo to reach Omar Abdulrahman, who finished with a stylish lobbed effort.

Just three minutes later, Omar turned scorer to producer when he found Milos Kosanovic with a crossed corner kick on the near post. The Serbian got to the cross with a towering header, to make it 2-0.

Omar continued to impress as he grabbed his second assist of the night, when he advanced towards the box and released Keno, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner to extend the visitors’ lead. The Clarets tried to reduce the deficit in the second half. Tahnoon Al Zaabi cut inside from the left and found Sebastian Tagliabue with an accurate cross, however, veteran goalkeeper Ali Khaseif blocked Tagliabue’s header with a great reflex.

Al Wahda continued to be the more dangerous side and 10 minutes before the fulltime whistle Khaseif pulled off another excellent save to deny Ismael Al Zaabi shot from the edge of the box.

In the final moments of the game, Khalfan Mubarak sealed the huge victory for the Pride of Abu Dhabi. Zayed Al Ameri sent a defence-splitting through pass to Ali Mabkhout, the latter squared the ball to Mubarak, who was left with a simple tap in from a close range.

Meanwhile, Al Nasr edged past Fujairah 1-0 to seal spot in the semis.

Al Nasr were first to threaten Fujairah in the 18th minute, when Toze controlled a long through pass behind Fujairah’s backline and advanced towards the box, however, his right footed low strike missed the target by a narrow range.

The Blues continued to control the pace of the game, as they wasted another glorious chance in the 29th minute. Saeed Suwaidan found Habib Al Fardan with defence-splitting pass, that the latter controlled with a clever feint, but his powerful shot went just wide.

Al Fardan continued to be at heart of attack for Al Nasr. The number 10 opened the scoring just one minute ahead of the break as he slotted Toze’s ground cross from a close range, to make it 1-0 into halftime.