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Al Wasl in semis

ABU DHABI - Defending champions Al Jazira were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Wasl in Group B of the Etisalat Cup at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Saturday night.

The draw ensured Al Wasl’s qualification to the semifinals of the competition. Al Wasl top the group with 16 points from nine games with a match still in hand. They have won four, drawn four and lost one.

Jazira failed to qualify after logging 10 points from nine matches. They won two, drew four and lost three.

Both teams, who were missing a couple of players because they are on national duty at the Asian Cup being held in Doha, were down to 10 men after Al Wasl’s Mohammed Abdullah and Al Jazira’s Juma Abdulla were sent off.

Al Jazira were much more dangerous with their moves while Al Wasl’s forays were cut off by the defence. Al Jazira went ahead in the 17^th minute after Sultan Saleh Bargash’s corner took a deflection off Al Wasl defender Yaser Salem. Al Wasl’s only chance came by way of a freekick but Francisco Yeste’s try was punched away by goalkeeper Khalid Essa in the 23^rd minute.

Al Jazira came ever so close to doubling the lead but Sultan Saleh Bargash’s dangerous freekick hit the crossbar in the 27^th minute.

Al Jazira kept up the pressure after the break and created a lot of chances. Ali Ahmed Mabkhout muffed an opportunity, firing it over the crossbar when he just had goalkeeper Rashed Ali to beat in the 57^th minute. Al Wasl were down to 10 men for the rest of the 20 minutes after Mohammed Abdullah was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Jazira captain Ibrahim Diaky.

Jazira should have scored again but were denied by the Al Wasl goalkeeper Rashed Ali, who pulled off some neat saves. Ibrahim Diaky’s shot was blocked by Rashed Ali in the 77^th minute and immediately after, Ahmed Jumaa’s try met the same fate.

Later, substitute Matias Delgado’s shot from close range off a Diaky pass from the right was deflected by Rashed Ali. Jazira too were down to 10 men with five minutes left on the clock after Juma Abdulla was given marching orders by referee Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohammed for a foul on Alexandre Oliveira inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot and Francisco Yeste made no mistake with the penalty to draw level.

In Sharjah, Al Ahli held Sharjah to a goalless draw and Al Shabab beat hosts Ittihad Kalba 2-0 in the ninth round of the Etisalat Cup on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Al Ain advanced to the semifinal of the competition following their 2-1 victory over Dubai on Friday. Saif Mohammed and Bander Mohammed struck for Al Ain in the 44^th and 68^th minutes while Kamara scored the consolation goal for Kalba in the 52^nd minute.


Squads:

Al Jazira: Khalid Essa, Juma Abdulla, Ahmed Jumaa, Ibrahim Diaky, Ahmed Mohammed, Helal Saeed, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Marzooq, Ali Ahmed Mabkhout, Sultan Saleh Bargash, Sultan Ramadan. Substitutes: Khalid Saif Al Sinani, Mohammed Salem, Rashid Abdulrahman, Abdulla Qasem, Saleh Abdulla Basheer, Saleh Abdulla, Matias Delgado. Coach: Abel Braga.

Al Wasl: Rashed Ali, Mohammed Omar, Ali Mahmoud, Francisco Yeste, Darwish Ahmed, Alexandre Oliveira, Fadel Ahmed, Mohammed Jamal, Mohammed Abdullah, Yaser Salem, Essa Ali. Substitutes: Ali Al Amir, Omran Abdulrahman, Tariq Hassan, Obaid Naser, Ammar Mubarak, Saoud Saeed, Maher Jassim. Sergio Farias.

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohammed.

james@khaleejtimes.com