Al Nasr beat Al Ain to enter President's Cup semis

Abu Dhabi - There were lot of cheeky passes and beautiful moves by Al Ain's Caio Lucas, Danilo Asprilla and Amer Abdulrahman but all failed with goal-producing final blow for the 'Boss'.

Al Nasr beat Al Ain by a solitary goal to enter the semifinal of the President's Cup. Jassem Yaqoub goal was enough to see the Dubai team go through at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Thursday night. Al Nasr were a man down in the additional time but prevailed over the Garden City club.
Al Ain started with Omar Abdulrahman on the bench but dominated the early proceedings. They had few chances but it was Al Nasr, who maximised when given an opportunity.
There were lot of cheeky passes and beautiful moves by Al Ain's Caio Lucas, Danilo Asprilla and Amer Abdulrahman but all failed with goal-producing final blow for the 'Boss'. And it was against expectations that the first goal was netted by the Dubai 'Blues'.
Al Nasr striker Wanderley Santos made a scathing solo run and drew the defence out. The Brazilian then smartly passed right onto advancing Yaqoub, who blasted past keeper Khalid Eisa to score in the 26th minute. It was great presence of mind shown by Yaqoub to make that 70-metre damaging run from his half to the other end and connect to perfection. While Al Ain players were desperate their Dubai counterparts showed perseverance to take one-goal advantage into the break.
Zlatko Dalic pressed the emergency button and got in 'Amoory' right at the start of second half. And Al Ain started their hunt for equaliser. Al Nasr were up to the challenge and Abdelaziz Barrada even terrified Al Ain goal with a long-ranger.
And with 20 minutes to go, Dalic made his last throw of dice - Ibrahim Diaky in for Dyanfres Douglas. The substitute could have made a difference in 76th minute but shot straight to the keeper.
Al Ain continued to make inroads into Al Nasr danger area but Khalifah Mubarak and clan held good. There were 10 minutes of added time that saw feisty play. Al Nasr defender Hussain Abbas was sendoff but the 'Blues' resisted the wave of attacks and have given coach Dan Petrescu enoguh reasons to start dreaming of a shield in his first year.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com