Al Wahda, Al Ahli enter final

Dubai - Sow stars with hat trick in final minutes against Al Shabab; Al Wasl oustedTop stars arrive for showdown

Moussa Sow scored a hat-trick in the dying minutes of the semifinal clash of the Arabian Gulf Cup against hosts Al Shabab to power Al Ahli to a great 3-2 victory, late Tuesday night.
The Red Knights, trailing 0-1 after Joe Alves put the home side ahead in the 46th minute, stormed back to edge their neighbours thanks to the brilliance of Sow who found the net in the 71st, 79th and 83rd minutes. The first half ended goalless.
In the day's earlier semifinal, Abu Dhabi's Al Wahda reached their first Arabian Gulf Cup final since six years, with a 2-1 victory against hosts Al Wasl of Dubai.
Goals from Sebastian Tagliabue and Jorge Valdivia propelled The Clarets to the summit clash on April 1.
Just before the half-hour mark, Sultan Alghafri almost exploited a sloppy ball in the Al Wasl defence, latching onto the loose pass but shooting wide of the far post, and in the 41st minute Sebastian Tagliabue uncharacteristically directed a right-footed shot wide of the target after a great setup from Ismaeil Matar.
The last action of a goalless first half saw Hugo Viana's free kick headed away by Hussain Fadel in the wall, as neither side could make a breakthrough.
The deadlock was quickly broken after the interval, though, and the opening goal went the way of the visitors as a disastrous mix-up in Al Wasl's defence saw goalkeeper Rashed Ali's pass back-heeled by Salem Abdulla straight into the path of Ismaeil Matar, who lofted the ball for Tagliabue to head into the back of the net and put Al Wahda 1-0 up in the 48th minute. Attempting to get back in the game, Yaser Salem's cross was headed wide by Edgar Bruno, whilst Fabio de Lima did all the hard work in twisting and turning to lose his marker, but fired his shot wide. A minute later, Al Wahda had doubled their lead on the counter-attack; Khalil Ibrahim crossing for Chilean international Jorge Valdivia to chip the ball into the net with a tidy finish, but in the 78th minute Al Wasl were handed a route back into the game as Caio Canedo won a penalty after a trip from Mohammed Barghash, and Fabio de Lima converted from the spot to make it 2-1. The hosts could not inspire a comeback, though, and Al Wahda substitute Amer Omar raced through and attempted to wrap up victory even further for the visitors but his shot was saved by Rashed Ali, as a 2-1 scoreline was enough to power The Clarets home. Gabriel Calderon, the Cheetahs coach with his mantra that every game is a 'final' just could not get his men to do the midfield work neatly and paid a heavy price for the lack of good policing tactics on the flanks.
"There are no apologies and you cannot make mistakes in a knock-out competition. There is no place for mistakes," he had said earlier. Missing Abdulla Kazim due to UAE Olympic Team duty in Doha, Ali Salmeen with injury, and doubts on the readiness of Caio Canedo, Salem Abdulla and Waheed Ismail, Calderon also acknowledged that his opponents Al Wahda who were also hit by a number of absences due to the AFC U23 Championships in Doha, handled the crunch situations better."
Al Wahda have UAE Olympic Team players doing duty in Doha.
Omar Alrashdi and defender Mansur Abdulla, last minute replacements did well to plug the wide holes Al Wahda initially had.
moni@khaleejtimes.com