Al Jazira sneak into President's Cup semifinal

Dubai - Ali Ahmed Mabkhout, Fares Juma, Sultan Barghash, Angel Lafita, Thiago Neves and Sultan Al Suwaidi were on target for Al Jazira, while Wanderley, Ricardo, Nawaf Mubarak, captain Mauricio Ramos, Maicosuel scored for Al Sharjah in the penalty shoot-out.

 It sure was nerve-racking for both and in a fixture that was fraught with nail-biting stuff, Al Jazira came out on the right side of the result. The Pride of Abu Dhabi moved into the semifinals of the prestigious President's Cup after defeating Al Sharjah 6-5 on penalties at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on Thursday night.
In what was an edge-of-the-seat thriller, Al Jazira, back-to-back winners in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and record eight-time champions Al Sharjah ended 2-2 at the end of regulation time. And extra time did nothing to separate them with both ending 4-4. Matters were to be decided by penalties and Al Jazira sneaked through after their goalkeeper and captain Ali Khaseif made a crucial save to deny Bader Abdulrahman.

Ali Ahmed Mabkhout, Fares Juma, Sultan Barghash, Angel Lafita, Thiago Neves and Sultan Al Suwaidi were on target for Al Jazira, while Wanderley, Ricardo, Nawaf Mubarak, captain Mauricio Ramos, Maicosuel scored for Al Sharjah in the penalty shoot-out.
Al Jazira held all the aces in the first half with all of their attempts coming from midfielder Thiago Neves. The 31-year-old, who joined the Pride of Abu Dhabi last summer from Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal, saw his left-footer from long range, go way wide of the far post on 28 minutes.
Two minutes later, the former Fluminense midfielder threatened again with another one of his trademark left-footers but goalkeeper Mohamed Yousif palmed it over the cross bar for a corner.
And Neves and Al Jazira were unlucky after his curling freekick hit the woodwork with a minute left in regulation time after midfielder Jong Woo Park was fouled by Al Sharjah captain Mauricio Ramos.
Al Sharjah broke the stalemate against the run of play through Yousef Saeed, who fired it home on his second attempt after a defensive lapse, in time added on in the first half. Fares Juma fumbled with a clearance and Ricardo pounced on it and relayed it to Saeed and the latter, the Arabian Gulf League Rookie of the Year in 2013-14, volleyed from close range. But Al Jazira goalkeeper and captain Ali Khaseif managed to block it. Saeed then latched onto the rebound and blasted it into the net.
Neves kept at it after the break but Mohamed Yousif denied him on 54 minutes after which Fares Juma's glancing header from a Neves freekick on the hour, was pushed away by Yousif.
Al Sharjah went on to extend their lead on 67 minutes through Wanderley Santos. Ricardo won the ball and slipped through the Al Jazira defence and drew Khaseif out before selflessly passing it to Wanderley on the left. And the latter slotted it with ease into an open goal.
All seemed lost for Al Jazira but The Spiders had Neves to thank for bringing them back into the game with the Brazilian canceling Al Sharjah two-goal lead with a brace on 79 and 84 minutes.
The match spilled into extra time and it was Al Sharjah who pulled farther away with Wanderley getting his second of the night and Maicosuel adding Al Sharjah's fourth.
But there was to be a twist to the tale again with substitute Sultan Barghash reducing the margin after which Ramos headed into his own goal. After which it was decided by penalties.
james@khaleejtimes.com